Towards a new pole for Pol at Silverstone?

The Catalan took pole position last year on the British circuit and he is still the latest pole-sitter from the Honda clan.

Published on 03/08/2022 à 17:36

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Towards a new pole for Pol at Silverstone?

It wasn't that long ago that Honda excelled in the qualifying game, although of course most of that was to Marc Marquez's credit. In 2014, the eight-time world champion climbed to 14 pole positions.

But even in 2011, with Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and the late Marco Simoncelli, the winged manufacturer dominated the year with 16 units on the clock. In the 1990s, with Mick Doohan at the forefront, it also happened that Honda took all the poles on the calendar (like in 1997 with a total of 15).

Since Marquez's injury, Honda pole positions have become rare. More precisely, there were only two: the first in MotoGP of Takaaki Nakagami at Teruel in 2020 (which ended in a crash on the first lap of the race) and Pol Espargaro's debut with Honda last year at Silverstone.

Silverstone has smiled on Honda since its return to the calendar in 2010. It's simple, apart from Jorge Lorenzo in 2010 with Yamaha and in 2018 with Ducati (the race having subsequently been canceled), Honda riders have always qualified on pole. Will Espargaro end Honda's longest run without a pole (17 races)? “It's a circuit that suited us last year, so I hope we can start this second part of the year better than the races before the break,” said Espargaro, former Moto2 world champion.

Injured in the ribs in Germany, the Catalan took advantage of these five weeks of break to recover his health. “I had a good break, was able to recover from my rib injuries in Germany and get back to training,” he said. Last year we had a great weekend at Silverstone and I will work hard to try and get that result again, but there is work to be done. It was a big break, but now I'm ready to get back on track and be back with the Repsol Honda Team. »

Espargaro gave Honda the one and only podium this year by finishing third in Qatar. Since then, he has never done better than ninth. Note that Espargaro's future is not yet known, even if he is on track to return to KTM and the Tech3 team next year to make way for Joan Mir at Repsol.

And during this time ...

Marc Marquez intensifies his rehabilitation. After resuming cardio and strength training, the Spaniard began swimming sessions, nine weeks after his fourth operation on his right humerus. For the moment, all signals are green for Marquez. However, seeing him back on the handlebars of a MotoGP in Misano, at least for the tests which will follow the San Marino GP, seems a little optimistic.

Note that some rumors announced that he would play the role of “coach” for the British GP. We asked Honda and they told us that would not be the case.