MotoGP: Espargaro hit with engine penalty

Pol Espargaro will start this weekend’s Valencian Grand Prix from pit lane after having to use a tenth engine this weekend, one more than the nine KTM are permitted to use as a new manufacturer.

However, KTM have said the Spaniard technically hasn’t exceeded his allocation, but given a recent chassis update, four of his engines that still have miles left cannot be installed into the latest chassis iteration.

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The penalty comes after a strong start to the weekend for Espargaro, who set the third quickest time in this morning’s opening practice and ranked tenth this afternoon despite a crash in the closing stages to earn himself a provisional spot in Q2. 

“Things are going well, we were in the top ten in both sessions,” Espargaro said. “This morning I felt a little bit better than this afternoon, where we struggled a bit more when the track changed just a few degrees. 

“I’m OK after the crash, we know why it happened so tomorrow I will do more laps, especially in FP4, as we’re going to try the harder compound in the front.” 

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