Supersub Espargaro deserves full-time MotoGP return

Pedro Acosta has heaped admiration on KTM’s test rider Pol Espargaro after his impressive cameo appearances during the 2025 MotoGP season.

Espargaro, who retired from MotoGP at the end of 2023, contested five races with Tech3 this year as a substitute for injured Vinales. The 34-year-old delivered top-10 finishes in four out of five starts and also earned a direct entry into Q2 at Phillip Island, Sepang and Portimao.

Across his outings, he often compared favourably with KTM’s full-time riders, showing he remains competitive in the premier class more than two years after the brutal Portimao injury that eventually led to his retirement.

Espargaro’s speed has caught the attention of KTM’s star rider Acosta, who believes his elder has made a strong case for a full-time return. “There are people who should reconsider making Pol a permanent rider in the championship again,” he said in Portimao.

“I would recommend him to anyone in the championship. This year, he has come to several races, he has [almost] always been in Q2, and [if he hadn’t] got heated and crashed [in Malaysia], he would have always been in the top 10 [in races].

“Pol is coming here without pressure, he’s having a great time. In Australia, it helped me a lot to ride behind him. He’s very open to working and helping the factory. It’s always good to have a rider like that. He rides the bike in a similar way to me, aggressively with the front tyre, and it’s good for me to have options from someone with experience and the data of someone who’s fast.”

Espargaro “still has fire inside” him

Espargaro suffered injuries to his jaw, back and lung during a major crash in practice for the 2023 season opener in Portugal. It wasn’t until the ninth round of the year that he returned to action, and after some poor results on his comeback, he was dropped by KTM to make room for Acosta at Tech3.

Switching to the role of test rider last year, Espargaro has played a crucial part in developing the RC16, with his recent performance in races boosting his stock within the factory. His elder brother Aleix Espargaro, who hung up his helmet at the end of 2024 after helping Aprilia become a frontrunning force, said Pol was still hungry to race in MotoGP.

“It’s amazing what Pol is doing,” said the 36-year-old. “I decided to stop. I don’t have the fire inside of me. I don’t want to fight for victories. I try to do my job as well as possible. I don’t really want to go to this very high-risk. 

“With Pol, it is a completely different story. He’s a super talented rider. He still has the fire inside. He never says, ‘I want to stop racing’. He wants to prove [to] not just everybody, but also himself, that after the big crash [in Portimao] he’s still fast. I think he proved it. It’s amazing what he did. 

“I talk with him every single day after every session, and I applaud him a lot because of what he did, especially in Portimao [this year]. For me, after the first day when he went to Q2, I was almost crying. For me, it was one of the hardest days of my life. To go through the way that he did, it was super brave and amazing.”

Pol Espargaro had a WSBK shot

Aleix Espargaro also revealed that Pol had a chance to switch to WSBK in 2026, but chose to remain in MotoGP as a test rider for KTM – a decision he personally believes is correct.

“After his first replacement when he did a really good race in Balaton, he had this [WSBK] chance,” said the Honda test rider. “He thought a lot about what to do. I gave my point of view. He was close, but at the same time, KTM showed him that they really need him for testing.

“Maybe at the beginning of the season, he didn’t feel super happy because KTM did not have many tests and they had no wildcards. This is why he doubted a little bit. This is just my opinion and the opinions can be different, but to be a test rider at a big factory at that point in our careers is better than racing in Superbikes. 

“Everybody can choose their future, but I think Pol took the right [decision]. These races just gives him more credibility inside of KTM.”

We want to hear from you!

– The Autosport.com Team