Pol Espargaró is leaving full-time MotoGP racing in 2024, transitioning to a behind-the-scenes role in the project. His seat at GasGas Tech3 will be taken by the promising Pedro Acosta.
The experienced Spanish rider explained to the press how he came to the decision about his future: ‘It is what it is. Finally we were talking with the factory and we arrived to an agreement for the next year, to have some races, most of the wildcards, and just supporting the team and the factory in another way. And just trying to figure out which will be my position inside the factory next year and matching everything together with all the board members and how we want to face this new project’.
Despite losing a full-time seat while still feeling competitive, Espargaró assured that he is not disappointed and is aware that it was the solution to continue in the KTM project: ‘Actually it isn’t a disappointment. For sure I would like to be a racer next year, because actually I feel I’m fast – not as fast as I would like to be, but also I’ve been away for quite a long time, the bike changed a lot and for sure I hadn’t enough time to be fast as I want. But even like that I’ve been fast enough. But things goes like that. I need to take it in a mature way, don’t be like a child screaming and crying – just taking new chapters on my life in the most mature and the best way possible. In the most positive and proactive way I can. And it’s the only way it’s gonna work for both parts – for me and for the Pierer Mobility Group project. It needs to be like that. And also thinking if we want to share many years together it must be in this way’.