The Spaniard was forced to miss the opening eight rounds, up to the summer break, following back, neck, rib and jaw fractures at the season-opener.

But Espargaro’s enforced absence became even tougher when, after struggling in winter testing, the fast-improving RC16 began consistently fighting at the front.

“The bike has changed a lot. I have to admit, in the beginning of the year, I was not so concerned to be out of racing because they were not doing good results. But then Jerez arrived and that was painful!” said Espargaro.

“I’ll tell you I was struggling to watch the races on TV! Jack started to be very quick, when during pre-season I was on the level of Jack. I started to see these guys doing what they are doing and that was hard.”

Red Bull KTM riders Brad Binder and Jack Miller finished on the podium in both of Espargaro’s home Jerez races, where test and wild-card rider Dani Pedrosa also played a starring role.

The very next event in Le Mans then saw Espargaro’s rookie Tech3 team-mate Augusto Fernandez finish in a strong fourth place.

“Augusto is bringing so much good energy into the pit box,” Espargaro said. “I really like it because he’s doing great.

“The atmosphere inside the pit box compared to the last years has changed completely and this is also thanks to Augusto. So he’s trying, he’s pushing and he’s fast.”

By the summer break, KTM had taken two Sprint wins plus four further top-three finishes. The RC16 is presently second to Ducati in the constructors’ table, while Espargaro’s former Repsol Honda squad is eleventh and last in the teams’ standings.

Although the #44 missed his planned target of a comeback before Assen and is now setting his sights on Silverstone in early August, he was at least back in the paddock at the Dutch TT.

“It’s been very emotional to have Pol on the grid,” said older brother Aleix. “I want to see him on the bike, fighting with him. But when I saw him coming onto the grid, for me it was very emotional.

“I know how hard it has been for him. Not just physically, because he had a lot of injuries, but it’s part of the game. But mentally to be out for a lot of weeks, not knowing when he was able to come back. It’s not easy.

“So I’m very happy for him that he’s here, and that everybody in GASGAS gave him the welcome he deserved.

“As a brother, I’m very happy for this weekend for him. Actually, he didn’t want to come. I pushed a lot the last two weeks for him to be here, and finally he said ‘OK, I will come just on Saturday’. I said, ‘OK, Saturday is good enough, but everybody wants to see you’.

“Because when you are at home, it’s difficult for you the journalists and also for his team to understand how he was. But he’s good. He’s fine. He’s ready to be back. So I think he had to come here and prove that. And I’m very happy.”

Pol will ride an RC16 for the first time since his Portimao accident at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Raul Fernandez cut a frustrated figure after the German MotoGP.

The RNF Aprilia rider had finished in 15th place from 18th (out of 19 rides) on the grid, despite two retirements ahead of him.

“To be honest, we have a big problem in the championship. 90% of the race is on Saturday morning. Because at the end, you cannot overtake,” Fernandez said.

“I overtook two or three riders on the first lap, but later, when I tried to overtake, you cannot stop the bike for the slipstream [dirty air]. I had to go wide, if not maybe I touch three or four riders. The problem is that.

“Now we are in a situation where everybody takes a lot of risk just to do one fast lap [in qualifying]. Because the [race] pace doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter how you manage the tyre. We have one ‘train’ [line of riders nose to tail] and you stay there.

“If you try to overtake, you take a lot of risk.”

The Spaniard insisted it wasn’t just a unique feature of the tight and twisty Sachsenring.

“In Argentina, it was the same. In Argentina, I felt better pace than Zarco, but I tried three times to overtake him and I went wide, wide, wide. It’s quite complicated now to do,” he said.

“The problem is very similar to Formula 1”

“The problem now is very similar to Formula 1,” Fernandez added. “You need clean air for the wings to work and push the bike down into the ground.

“I was in the race, and with the slipstream [dirty air] in Turn 11, I had wheelie even with banking [leaning]! I said ‘no, no, no’ and picked up the bike faster, because otherwise I will crash. It’s amazing. And that is the problem.

“In Moto2, why don’t they have any problems? Because they don’t have any wings. Of course, you have the slipstream, you have to brake early, but at the end, the tyre will have the same support [load] as always if you are following another rider or not.

“In MotoGP, if you don’t have clean air, you don’t have the same [load] on the tyre.

“Before coming to MotoGP, if I am honest, I was saying, ‘bah, it’s not like this’. But it’s amazing.

“I never forget at Aragon in 2021, when Marc Marquez was behind his brother and crashed in the last corner. Later, I said, ‘why did he crash?’ He explained that with the wings, he lost a lot of [load] on the front tyre [in the dirty air].

“I thought, ‘it’s not like this’. But it’s even more than he explained!”

“I don’t want to blame MotoGP, but it’s boring”

Factory Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro agreed that qualifying has become disproportionately important, while the reliance on downforce combined with overheating of the front tyre is making races ‘boring’.

“Everybody has a lot of downforce and MotoGP now, I don’t want to blame MotoGP, but it’s boring. It’s everything about the qualifying,” Espargaro said.

“If you do a good qualifying, then you can do a good race because all the tyre pressures, all the fresh air you receive, means the bike is another one [to ride].

“You can be a lot faster. It’s a lot easier. If you are back in the grid, even if you have a really strong pace, it’s very difficult. This frustrates us. It’s just the qualifying now.”

Riders talking about ‘qualifying’ effectively mean having a good grid position and/or a strong start to be near the front early in a race.

So we’ve put together the following table comparing the top three positions at the end of lap 1 with the final top three, during each of the 16 races so far this year.

As can be seen, only one rider has won a race without already being inside the top three at the end of lap 1: Marco Bezzecchi, at Le Mans (sixth on lap 1).

On five occasions, the rider leading at the end of lap 1 went on to win the race…

*Following post-race penalty for Brad Binder.

Twelfth on the grid after technical issues in qualifying, the Red Bull KTM rider could only salvage eleventh in the Sprint.

But he made a much better start in the main race, reaching seventh by the end of the opening lap – only to fall while trying to cut back under Maverick Vinales at turn 1.

“Our bike’s super solid and I’m looking forward to the second half of the season. I’m just pissed off that we don’t have four races in a row!” Miller said.

The Australian is currently seventh in the world championship, matching his position heading into last year’s summer break as a factory Ducati rider.

Reflecting on his opening eight events in ‘orange’, from which he has taken three podiums (two Sprints and one GP), the former Honda and Ducati race winner said:

“The first half of the year has been unreal, we’ve had a bike fighting there every weekend, whether it’s myself, Brad or even Augusto.

“So we can be very happy with what the bike’s doing. We’ll come back to Silverstone in full force, recharged and be ready for the back end of the season.”

After a low-key winter, the RC16 has emerged as Ducati’s nearest challenger.

“Watching Brad send it into the last corner, you got to really see how good it is on the brakes,” he said. “But the bike’s not only good there, it’s good in the drive, it’s good in the high-speed corners…”

Binder, who lost a double podium at Assen after exceeding track limits on the final lap of both races, is fourth and top non-Ducati in the world championship standings.

 

After four seasons as a satellite rider, Espargaro got his big factory chance when he was selected, alongside rookie Maverick Vinales, to headline Suzuki’s 2015 MotoGP return.

The #41 took the bike to a pole position and best race finish of fourth over the next two years, after which Suzuki switched to an all-new line-up of Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins.

Vinales, who took the GSX-RR’s first MotoGP win, joined Yamaha while Espargaro began a long relationship with Aprilia, helping bring the RS-GP project from the back of the field to a 2022 title contender.

The GSX-RR was picked up from Suzuki’s former European HQ in Milan following the recent Assen round (see video below):

“It is one of the gifts that has made me most excited in my entire life!” said Espargaro, before revealing the GSX-RR.

“It makes me almost cry, incredible goosebumps,” he added, before thanking Suzuki project leader Shinichi Sahara, Davide and Roberto Brivio plus senior management at Suzuki Motor in Japan.

“People say it was impossible, they never give or sell MotoGP bikes, but I have a very good relationship with them and had been pushing them since I left Suzuki for Aprilia.

“They always said ‘no, no, no!” But when they retired [from MotoGP] they contacted me and told me I could have the motorcycle with which the project began, which Maverick won a race with and a later Alex Rins, and Joan Mir the world championship. So it was a thank you for having started the project with them.

“When they told me I thought it was a joke! And after 2.5 years of contracts and paperwork with Japan here is the 2016 GSX-RR #41 and it will be on display next to my Aprilias!”

Suzuki also gave Espargaro several different fairings, including his very first experience of wings in MotoGP.

After sitting on the bike, Espargaro notes how small and narrow the screen and fairing is compared with the current ‘aero’ bikes. “It looks like a Kalex Moto2!” he says. “It is incredible how much they have evolved… But the GSX-RR still seems impressively beautiful.

“Suzuki were the first factory to believe and trust in me, changing my life and my family’s life forever. Thanks to [getting that chance] I’ve gone to Aprilia, winning a race and podiums.

“So for me this bike is very special.”

Suzuki shocked MotoGP by withdrawing from the premier class at the end of last season.

Meanwhile Vinales has been reunited with Espargaro at Aprilia since late 2021.

The Italian, just 19th in the world championship – then led by Fabio Quartararo – entering the summer break a year ago, began this year’s holiday period eleventh in the standings, just two places behind his team-mate.

Whether it will be enough to secure a factory Yamaha contract extension, assuming Morbidelli wants one, is still to be revealed.

But the former title runner-up believes the key to closing the gap to Quartararo – and beating the Frenchman in several Sunday races this season – was to accept that it was futile to try and mould the M1 back into the smooth machine of the past.

“Halfway through last year I realised that if I wanted to make a step, I needed to change, not the bike,” Morbidelli explained. “So I had to completely flip around my nature, become more aggressive, and this winter I worked more on that.

“I started this season with a different approach while riding and a different approach generally to the weekend. And that’s what has been paying off to be able to extract close to the maximum potential of the bike.

“Last year it was only Fabio that was able to extract that, this year we can also.”

Morbidelli has a best finish of fourth so far this season, compared with third for Quartararo.

Just a week earlier, the Repsol Honda rider had suffered a fractured rib and finger, plus ankle damage, in a warm-up highside – his fifth and final accident of a punishing Sachsenring weekend.

It ruled the eight-time world champion out of the German MotoGP race, but he was back on his RCV just a few days later for Friday practice in Assen.

Clearly struggling with pain from the rib, Marquez was a shadow of his usual self, managing just 19th on Friday, then 17th in qualifying and the Saturday Sprint race before the pain became too much to continue.

But Marquez didn’t regret trying and insisted he would go into the summer break with ‘better confidence’ than if he had skipped the Dutch weekend entirely.

“It’s not the best way [to go into the summer break], but it’s better than how I finished in Sachsenring,” Marquez said.

“In Sachsenring, I finished with a massive highside.

“[At Assen] I finished with not the best feeling, but able to ride a MotoGP bike with one broken rib and one broken finger – and even like this be 7-8 tenths behind the fastest guys.

“So this gives me better confidence than after the Sunday in Sachsenring.”

Marquez added: “With the feeling of Sachsenring, to then be off the bike for two months [during the summer break], believe me, that’s not the best for a rider.

“I needed to keep riding, keep going, keep trying… [Staying] at home, the situation will never change.”

Marquez began the season with pole and a Sprint race podium in Portimao, but then fractured his thumb when he collided with Miguel Oliveira in the Sunday race and missed the following three rounds.

Sunday accidents at Le Mans and Mugello combined with the early exits at Sachsenring and Assen means Marquez hasn’t completed a single ‘grand prix’ race so far this season.

Despite his reduced track time, Marquez’s 14 accidents so far this season is more than any other rider.

Morbidelli, whose future as a factory Yamaha rider is expected to be disclosed after the summer break, said that it was simply a reflection of the situation they are facing at present.

But he also highlighted Monster Yamaha’s more favourable, mid-table, ranking in the Teams’ standings.

That, said the Italian, indicates both he and Fabio Quartararo are “doing close to the maximum” with what they have available.

“[The Constructors’ ranking]… is just a reflection of what is happening every track session and every race and we are not surprised by that. We are just fully focused on working to improve that situation,” Morbidelli said.

“I’m not daunted by seeing Yamaha in the last position in the Constructors’ table.

“I’m just more focused and motivated to do a better job as a rider, to be consistent, to be quick, to extract the maximum, to push the limits, and that’s what we are doing anyway.

“In the Constructors’ championship, we are last, but in the Teams’ championship, we are 6th [out of 11]. We have some quite [decent] points.

“So it [better Teams’ than Constructors’ form] means both riders are doing close to the maximum to bring home some good points for the team in every race.

“But for sure, we know that the machine needs to improve.”

While Yamaha was second in the Constructors’ and Teams’ standings heading into the summer break last season, when Quartararo (now ninth) was also leading the Riders’ title chase, Morbidelli has at least climbed from 19th last year to 11th.

MotoGP is considering revising the Concession rules to allow struggling manufacturers, such as Honda and Yamaha, more opportunities for bike development.

As the following list of official stats shows, younger brother Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Repsol Honda team-mate Joan Mir are next closest with 12 accidents.

But while Alex Marquez has completed all eight events, Mir has missed two complete weekends and was forced to withdraw part-way through another two rounds due to injuries.

KTM rookie Augusto Fernandez follows on 11 falls, with Aleix Espargaro’s Aprilia the most frequent RS-GP to hit the ground with 9.

Yamaha team-mates Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo have five accidents each, although Quartararo is now just two behind his full 2022 season tally.

The number of falls was always expected to rise this year due to the introduction of Sprint races and, with only 8 of the 12 rounds so far complete, Marco Bezzecchi’s 2022 tally of 23 is likely to be exceeded. 

The highest total for a single rider in recent years was 27, for Marc Marquez, in 2017… 

While the Red Bull KTM star wouldn’t name any names, many deduced that words such as “They kicked out 99% of the engineers, to get his engineers. His guys in there” pointed towards Marc Marquez and Honda.

Miller stood by his comments at the following Assen round but insisted those that reported he was only targeting the #93 were misrepresenting his words.

However, the Australian also warned that struggling manufacturers being publicly criticised by their own riders could be at greater risk of leaving.

Explaining further to Speeweek.com, Miller said: “I was asked after the race in Germany because some riders have ‘bad bikes’. I then replied: ‘Yes, [but why do] they have bad bikes.’

“You have to decide who I meant… If you say it’s about [Marquez], that’s your interpretation.

“It’s not my place to give anyone advice. I was just giving my opinion on the situation. That’s all.

“I have been asked for my opinion and have made it known.

“Not only did I give my thoughts on Honda’s situation, I spoke about the situation of the entire MotoGP paddock.

“Because the reason why we are here is the many different manufacturers [present]. If we continue like this and do the [development] work badly, we will not have a championship [like this]. As simple as that.”

The Concession system has been redundant ever since Aprilia graduated to the same rules as other manufacturers last season, when Espargaro also made history with the RS-GP’s first and so far only MotoGP win.

Aprilia’s progression followed that of Ducati, Suzuki and KTM, which all benefited from technical perks until they reached a certain number of podiums.

The only current manufacturers not to have benefited from Concessions are the once-dominant Honda and Yamaha brands, which are now slumped at the bottom of the constructors’ standings.

Conscious of Suzuki’s sudden exit, Dorna is keen to revive the Concession system to ensure all manufacturers can remain competitive through the bike development. Especially in the new era of limited testing and Sprint races, which have cut practice time to a minimum.

At present, a manufacturer must go a complete season without a single MotoGP podium to access Concessions the following year. Many feel that bar is set far too low and has already been exceeded by Honda and Yamaha.

Yamaha and Honda have each taken one podium in 2023, yet their top rider is only 9th (Fabio Quartararo) and 13th (Alex Rins) respectively in the world championship standings.

“We have big brands here spending millions of euros, so to balance the championship, I think, is understandable. It’s OK,” said Espargaro. “But how to do it? It’s difficult.

“I’m not against it. We [Aprilia] took profit from this and I think it’s good. I mean, I want to see races with 3-4 different manufacturers fighting for the win like two years ago, or even last year.

“So I think it’s good. But how to do it? It’s not easy. So hopefully they can make a good proposal.”

The current Concession package features more engine changes, exemption from the in-season engine design freeze and aerodynamic update limits, plus the opportunity for private testing with race riders.

The testing perk is likely to feature prominently in the revised package and Espargaro confirmed it had been valuable during his time at Aprilia.

“The Concessions help you quite a lot. I mean [having] the Test Team is OK. The Satellite team is also good. But if the factory riders can test things, if you have more updates during the season, the Concessions I think are a good idea,” Espargaro explained.

“But I don’t want [Aprilia] to use it anymore. I want to win with the same weapons as the others.”

Unfortunately for Espargaro, Aprilia – like Suzuki and KTM before them – have suffered a performance slump in their first season out of Concessions.

The Spaniard is again the top RS-GP rider but only eighth in the world championship (with one podium) compared to second when the summer break began a year ago.

But Espargaro doesn’t believe the explanation is as simple as leaving Concessions.

“I don’t think so. We’ve improved the reliability of the engine, there was just the problem that Maverick had [at Sachsenring],” he said.

“And in terms of maintaining performance of the engine [with less engine changes], in the past I remember when the engine arrived to 800ks it started to drop a lot of power.

“That’s not the case anymore. I raced many times this year and last year at close to 2000ks and the engine was still performing well.

“In terms of the testing, still Salvadori is testing a lot. So I don’t think so.”

Aprilia is third in the constructors’ standings, which is also where they had finished in 2022 after heartbreak at the Valencia finale.