Espargaro showed a strong racing pace on the RC213V in the first three laps of 2021, but only achieved the best time of eighth place at the Qatar GP and had to retire from the race in Portugal due to a failure of the rear brake.
But so far Espargaro has not been able to reconcile his qualifying form with his racing pace. The Spaniard has only cracked the top 12 once.
During the GP weekend in Portugal, Espargaro admits the biggest problem is understanding the limits of the Honda front end, which is keeping him from doing clean laps in qualifying.
However, he believes this was more due to a lack of experience than a problem with the bike and did not want to blame the previous allocation of front tires for the race this season.
“Well, this type of bike – including the KTM – are bikes where you catch up on the brakes most of the time, break in quickly, stop the bike, spin and go,” explained Espargaro.
“Then you have to brake hard, but if you don’t know where to brake, that’s a problem.
“So if you don’t know exactly where the front limit is, this is a problem as you won’t get the best grip.
“Right now it feels like I’m doing well in other sectors. In T1 [at Portimao]I was the fastest in my qualifying so I can be quick.
“But I don’t adjust all sectors on the lap because because you gain time on the brakes, I go too far and make too many mistakes there.
“This is a problem because if you are not fast and you cannot put everything together, one or two tenths are enough in this tight qualifying to finish first, fourth or fifth.
“It’s just about doing more laps, knowing the situation a little better and going to places where I know more about the braking points.
“Then I think that it will be much easier for me to understand the situation and, in particular, to bring all sectors together in one round.
“So we just have to be patient and it will come because we have the speed. I have to put it together. “
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Espargaro admitted before last weekend’s race that Marc Marquez’s return was “important” for him to continue his adaptation to the Honda.
LCR’s Alex Marquez, who finished eighth behind his brother in the Portugal race, noticed that Marc Honda drivers were already showing the RC213V’s limit.
“I’m on the right track but look like I’m home,” he said when asked if it was strange to have his brother back in the paddock after his season.
“So it’s better to have him back, for Honda too.
“He pushes the bike to its limits, he shows us the limits of the bike again. That’s good for us. “