Pol Espargaro says he feels like he has done “four races in Malaysia”, after his first day back on his KTM MotoGP bike since injuring himself in warm-up at Brno last month.
The Spaniard suffered a broken collarbone and inflammation to his spinal cord in a nasty highside during the Sunday morning session in the Czech Republic, which forced him to miss the Austrian and British weekends.
Returning to action on Friday at Misano, Espargaro ended the day 24th overall with a best lap of 1:34.461s – over two seconds off the pace, and 0.6s adrift of teammate Bradley Smith in 20th.
Admitting to feeling “exhausted” after his 90 minutes of running, which he likened to completing four consecutive races at the gruelling Sepang, Espargaro says he “couldn't work properly” but is confident his strength will return enough for him to be able to race on Sunday.
“Exhausted. I feel like I've done four races in Malaysia,” Espargaro joked.
“No, I feel really weak in all body conditions, after five weeks out of this world you feel it.
“It was like a winter break for me, was very long time without racing, also resting on the sofa because my neck problems and nerves problems together with the collarbone.
“I couldn't work properly, as I'd like to. I'm weak, but it's gonna come, so the rest is okay.”
He added when asked if he will be strong enough to race: “Yeah, I think so.
“I thought today would be the worst day, I know it because there is some muscles that are still sleeping and it's like waking up; it's like when you wake up in the morning and all your muscles are waking up.
“Feels better and better each practice, but still a lot to improve.”
Despite this being his first time back on the bike since early August, Espargaro was still given a new aerodynamic fairing to test in FP1, but removed it for the second session as his physical condition made it “difficult” to give meaningful feedback.
“I tried to be as sensitive as I could for the team, but it was not easy, I was riding quite slow, two seconds from the top guys – 0.6s on my teammate.
“The worst things is that I feel weak on the bike, I'm not riding as I would normally, so it's difficult to work for the team in those conditions.
“But I'm trying my best, as I said today was the first day, I'm super tires and hopefully I will sleep well this night and wake up tomorrow with more energy than I have today.”
