Pol Espargaro: Different Honda packages 'hurting the group'

Pol Espargaro crossed the line in tenth place, just over a second from Marc Marquez, in the first race they had finished as Repsol Honda team-mates at Jerez on Sunday.

But it wasn't just the final position that left the #44 visibly disappointed, Espargaro had struggled with his RCV in every area except braking and later revealed that all the Honda riders seem to be using a different package.

Espargaro believes such technical variation is 'hurting' both the Spaniard's learning curve on his new machine and the performance of the Honda 'group' as a whole.

"We do not have traction, we do not turn and our speed is not good," said Espargaro, who began the race one place ahead of his team-mate in 13th and finished 11.7sec from Ducati race winner Jack Miller.

"I cannot ride smooth. My pace didn't come. I'm riding tight. Trying to gain every time more and more on the brakes, until the brakes give up and then I go wide. Because in the other areas we are a mess, so… it's like this.

"We are going to take the test [on Monday] as a proper test and we are going to work in the way Honda wants.

"I'm just an employee and I'm going to do what they want me to try, different packages… and let's see which one was better."

A weekend that saw big accidents for both Espargaro and Marc Marquez ended with Takaaki Nakagami as the leading Honda rider, in fourth place (+3.2s), after switching back to the 2020 spec chassis.

Nakagami's LCR team-mate Alex Marquez has opted for the older chassis since the start of the season, while Espargaro and Marc Marquez still have the 2021 chassis - but Espargaro explained that the Repsol bikes are not the same.

"We are all using different packages, let's say like that. [Marc's] using one, I'm using another one. And the satellite team are using another one," Espargaro said

"It's okay, tomorrow I'm going to test and try different things and let's see what they want me to test and if we can improve the overall situation.

"Because I think we are going too much individually and not as a group and this at the end is hurting the group. And this is not good."

For Espargaro, it's causing some confusion: "The problem I have now is I don’t know if I'm good, if I'm bad, if it’s the bike, if it's the package I'm using, if it's my riding style, I don’t know what's going on.

"For me – being new [to the bike] – I have this confusion.

"So I have the feeling they are working big, but as my knowledge [of the Honda] is zero I cannot help them and they cannot help me and I cannot check anything to try to help myself, because everyone is in [a different] way."

Espargaro declined to comment on specific differences between the #44 and #93 machines; "It's a different package and I cannot tell you [more], sorry!"

The former KTM rider added that he isn't sure if the 2020 chassis is on his testing schedule for Monday.