Pol Espargaró was one of the riders who partnered with Marc Márquez in MotoGP at Repsol Honda. This year, the six-time champion of the premier class starts a new chapter in his career at Gresini, with a Ducati Desmosedici GP23, aiming to return to the fight at the top positions.
Asked by the newspaper Marca if #93 could fight for the title, the former rider replied: ‘Yes, I think it’s possible. It will depend mainly on what he does in the first races, or what his opponents do in the first races. If they don’t gain too much distance from him in the early races until they reach Europe, which are more complicated races, he can do it. The good thing is that we won’t be competing in Argentina anymore, and this favors Marc because it’s a circuit where he doesn’t have much experience riding, unlike Jerez, for example. And if they don’t gain too much distance from him in these first races, I think in the second half of the season is when Márquez can make a statement’.
In Espargaró’s view, by that time, experience will already favor Márquez, who in his opinion will have a bike to fight for the title: ‘He will have accumulated much more experience on the bike, and it’s clear that he can be champion because he has incredible talent, and the GP23 is a competitive bike to win the World Championship, there’s no doubt about it’.