Repsol Honda’s Pol Espargaro celebrated a career best at Misano, stepping onto the second step of the Emilia Romagna GP podium.

The celebrations were doubled for the HRC team as Marc Marquez claimed victory in the dramatic 27-lap race with Espargaro openly delighted - not just for himself after struggling at the back of the field for much of the 2021 season - but the entire team he became part of less than 12 months ago.

“Yeah, it means a lot,” Espargaro admitted on Sunday evening. "To just break this wall of podiums here in Repsol Honda, it's a pain release.

“I took a huge decision in my career last year and honestly, everyone saw it, I was struggling a lot during all the year, but finally to get this result is super nice for me. As an ego boost, is good for me, for the rider but it's important for the team.

"They have been working huge, I mean this COVID time hits the Japanese manufacturers a little bit more than the Europeans and you can feel their pain when we are riding the bike. It's harder to improve our problems because they couldn't work as hard as European manufacturers but finally to be one, two, it's just unbelievable. I'm pleased for myself but especially for Honda.
“To have the two bikes first and second, this is unbelievable after a tough season,” he continued. “After some tough seasons, not just this one! The last year also was tough season for Repsol Honda.

“So this for me, I mean, talking about ego, this is super important for me as a rider. I think it's my best position ever in MotoGP, second position - I was third position in KTM. So it's an important moment for my career for sure, but I feel more release for Honda.

“You guys have not seen these guys working huge in the past days. I said already, in the COVID time - I've been in the European manufacturers, I know how they were working during the COVID, and it was flat out, even if the COVID was hitting strong in Europe. But as you all know for sure, the Japanese took safety super seriously, more seriously than Europeans, and for sure in this COVID area, they were struggling more than European manufacturers. So we have seen the European manufacturers doing huge steps in this COVID times while the Japanese were struggling a little bit more.

“So for sure it's important for me as I said, but I just see Takeo [Yokoyama] face today, [Tetsuhiro] Kuwata-san face today and this is more than amazing, it's crazy how happy they are!”

While the result may be the 30-year-old’s best to date, but he’s far from resting on his laurels. Espargaro is aware of the improvements still to be made and was quick to comment on two main areas of Sunday’s race that could potentially have led to even more.

“There is two things here,” he reflected. "One thing is that I'm not sure that my rear tyre choice was the proper one. [medium front/soft rear combination] In the first race here in Misano I chose the rear medium tyre which allows me to stop the bike in a better way and today I was struggling at that place. I was not comfortable on the entry of the corners because the rear was sliding way too much. Which was the same problem that I had on the first weekend here in Misano with the soft tyre, that's why we chose the medium.

“Second thing is that Marc is super good on the first laps with a full tank full, overtaking riders. This is something that I need to learn, from just experience. He for sure is more experienced than me on the bike and he knows a little bit more how to manage the brakes to overtake.

“I struggled a little to overtake Mir in the first laps, I take too much time and then when I could overtake him already, the race was done for me. These three guys, Pecco, Jack and Marc were already at one second and a half or two seconds away from me and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't catch them back because they were riding so fast and I was completely alone, so for me it was impossible to catch them back. So these two things is something that I need to keep working on it. The tyre choices and for sure the time attack in the first laps, I need to overtake in a faster way.”

One key to the Repsol rider’s improvement in the past month was also the two days of testing, at the same track, directly after the Championship’s last visit to Misano.

“Basically in the tests I was just trying to focus on the rear grip, just trying to get some more rear grip with the package. I'm able to ride in the way I like, I prefer. The package, for example, we found here, it was not working so good in America, which I was keeping and I paid on the race, I did a very bad race. Then I knew that with that package, here in Misano back, it would work well.

“I was focusing just trying to repeat what I was doing on the last race but also on the test, which it was super, super good.  The best moment of the weekend for me was, maybe in FP3, which in wet conditions I could do that lap that allows me to go directly to Q2 and then qualified me P4. Then half of the race was done because starting in that position, the rhythms of the guys are faster, you can apply your riding style, everything is much smoother and easier. The race was much easier than starting on the back.”