If ever MotoGP delivered diversity of results, 2020 season has seen plenty. With 9 different podium riders taking top 3 positions over 4 Rounds, breaking boundaries seems to have hit familiar territory.
No more so, than KTM Factory taking another historic victory gaining first ever pole position with Pol Espargaro along with Takaaki Nakagami first front row grid position ahead of tomorrow’s race at Styrian Grand Prix.
Not only have rider results mixed up podium standings, the domination of 1-2 manufacturers has been increased to 3-4. Top 5 Brands from Qualifying at BMW M Grand Prix of Styria at Red Bull Ring are: KTM, Honda (Nakagami), Ducati (with Johann Zarco starting from pit-lane due to penalty), Suzuki (Joan Mir) and Ducati with Jack Miller.
Irrespective of what racing result delivers, the sheer scope and range of competition which is incredibly close, not only opens opportunities for talent to rise above the crème-de-le-crème, but also pushes rider/Team performance levels to the test.
Take case in point with LCR Honda Idemitsu rider Takaaki Nakagami. With absence of Honda’s 6x MotoGP Champion Marc Marquez due to injury at Jerez, Japan’s only MotoGP rider has taken advantage of additional benefits from Honda to improve performance on track. In recent interview with Red Bull Takaaki states:
‘”If Marc can score 420 Championship points with his way of riding, it’s clear that if I want to be successful, I have to change, not the bike. Marc has a very special style, but it’s the only one that works for this bike. He uses the rear brake more in the braking point than me so I’ve reduced my braking time”‘.
‘”Marc also rides almost the exact way on the bike, whatever the conditions, there are hardly any changes. I tried to absorb these two findings and suddenly it all clicked into place! There’s now much less effort involved in riding the Honda quickly- not just physically but in terms of concentration”‘.
Capitalizing on increase of data from Honda, Takaaki posits he wants to be on the podium- and positioned on front grid row is good place to start. Knowing KTM’s Espargaro, has same amount of burning desire to take top step- pushes anticipation on who will win to the max.
One thing’s for sure, when push comes to shove, those who hold most ‘want to win’ does pay off. Look how far KTM have come in 3 years as stated by Pol:
“The first year we were three seconds [back] in qualifying. I remember being the last ones on the grid in Qatar, we couldn’t even see the red lights at the race start. We were expecting to improve quite a lot, but the improvements came starting last year.”
MotoGP BMW M Grand Prix of Styria August 23rd.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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