MotoGP: Pol Espargaro: ‘I felt that I had to step aside and help a rider like Pedro Acosta’
The GASGAS Tech3 rider was one of three riders in contention for KTM’s satellite team, after their request to have a fifth bike on ꧒the grid was rejected.
That meant Espargaro, Augusto Fernandez and Pedro Acosta were all in tꦆhe running for the GAꦺSGAS seats.
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Like the two factory riders Brad Binder and Jack Miller, Espargaro had a contract for next year but will instead take up a test rider role with several wildcard appearances, ▨as promoting Acosta alongside Fernandez, who has impressed during his rookie season, was a no-brainer.
But while Espargaro admitted to MotoGP.com that it was the right decision, stepping away from full-time racing will be ‘really tough to accept’💮.
Espargaro said: “Going out of a💛 full MotoGP ♔season as a rider is painful. This has been the last 15/16 years of my life.
“Racing as a proper rider in MotoGP, in any of the categories; and to then s♍ay I’m going to be doing something is really tough to accept.
“It’s not a goodbye. I don’t like goodbye’s and I’m not good at that. I felt that I had to do that step in my career, to step a little bit a✨side, not back, but beside, and to help the factory with a rider like Pedro [Acosta]. I really see Pedro as the future of this brand.”
One of the rea🐎sons Espargaro was happy to move aside for Acosta is the risk that comes with racing in MotoGP.
Feeling himself taking less risks that earlier in his career, Esparg🔯aro added: “On the racing side I think I lost myself a lit✤tle bit [after Portimao fall]. Some of my spirit.
“When you 🍨are young you are fast because you don’t have ꦕso many traumas. As you get older, more mature, you take some precautions in case it happens again.
“This year I crashed out of the pit box on a cold tyre, and now every time I go out of the pit box I’m a little bit more a𓆉ware than before.
“It’s a weight that you have on your back that makes you a little bit slower because you take a little bit less risk. It’s a sport that is abཧout how much risk you are prepared to take.”
