Pol Espargaro was thrown to the deep edge as he began his first competitive MotoGP appearance at Friday’s practice at Brno.
The KTM test rider was called to replace the injured Maverick Venares in Tech3, starting in 15th place in the dry morning session and then in the afternoon delayed by the storm.
The Spaniard laps 1.8 behind Ducati leader Mark Marquez, 0.9 seconds from teammate Enea Bastianini’s top RC16.
“The level that the guys have is insane,” admitted Espargaro after his first day back in competition. “It felt crazy because today I got in the rain and last ride was a long time ago.”
The Spaniard, whose last MotoGP start was Misano in 2024, was pleased to return to a trajectory that had been missing from the calendar for the past five years.
“I don’t think we, the riders, were aware of how much this truck was missing until we rode it again today!
“This place is special, it’s long, tricky, technical, up and down, fast, slow and slow, not just flowing, but you have to attack.
“It’s one of those old school tracks. The racing here is great.”
Czech Motogp Tech3 Pores Pargaro Riding
Espargaro is working on Vinales’ current RC16 configuration, but is also testing it.
“I’m working on a Maverick bike and I have some settings similar to those I use during testing,” he explained.
“For example, we made some small changes to our electronics and brought more data to the engineers in the factory. It was a good day. I look forward to seeing it dry tomorrow.”
Saturday activity at 34 years old begins with final practice followed by Qualifying 1. This will feature Ducati riders Francesco Bagnaia, Fabio Digiannantonio, Fabio Cartalaro, and factory KTM Star Blood Binder.
“Q1 is famous and famous, so it’s a great opportunity to learn,” added Espargaro.
Meanwhile, Bastianini marked a return from illness on the strongest Friday of the season, securing a direct spot in Qualifying 2 thanks to eighth place.
“I’m not 100% yet, but I’ve reached the second quarter for the first time this season!” said Bastianini, who was sidelined by German food poisoning.
“It’s important to straighten the top 10 on Friday. It’s moraleful for me after a difficult week at home.”