Life has a particularly cruel way of biting you on the arse. Pol Espargaro moved to the factory Honda squad for 2021, leaving behind a KTM project he in no small part was responsible for developing into a race winner, hopeful of taking the big next step in his MotoGP career.
Two podiums aside, what transpired was two years of misery as the RC123V struggled to be competitive and Honda soon alienated the Spaniard once his decision to move back to KTM – or the Pierer Mobility Group, to be proper – with Tech3 for this season was finalised. As his results suffered, so did his personal life.
