Pol Espargaro has admitted relief at not racing full-🃏time this year due to the physical toll of injuries.

Espargaro’s 10 seasons as a MotoGP rider were ended by KTM’s decision to replace him with Pedro Acosta in their Tech3 GASGAS p⭕roject this season.

His 2023 was blighted by an awful crash in Portimao o🐽n the first weekend which resulted in jaw, spine and lung injuries.

He will be a test and res🅷erve rider for KTM in 2024.

“Become a MotoGP rider again? Phew, well I don't know,” he told&n𝓰bsp;.

“Honestly, in the tests I looked go🅘od and I feel fast.

“An🍸d, furthermore, I am recoverinౠg my optimal physical condition, which is what I lost after the injury.

“In any case, God will say.”

But the injuries suffered a year ago have changed Espargaro’s mind-set sligh🦄tly.

“When you ar♏e young you forget it quickly,” he said.

“But as🅠 you get older it is a backpack that gets heavier a✱nd heavier.

“When you geꩲt up you notice pain that you didn't have, and that is due to falls you haveꦗ had.

“I have to confess that in many moments I do feel relieved to no longer race full 💧time.

“To give an eꦕxample,๊ I spoke with my brother who fell at turn 5 in Qatar doing the fastest lap.

“He was going very well and he fell and he sa♈id to me: 'I hit a terrible blow, my hand hurts a lot, I think I have suffered a fracture and I have🤪 to get up in weeks to see how I do...'

“Well, I don't miss that.

“Maybe what everyone sees on television is the races, the atmosphere, the public, I'm goin𝐆g to miss that a lot.

“But the🍎 injuries, the stress, the traumas and the confrontations with riv🌠als, no, one cannot miss it.

“In short, right now I'm fine the way I am.”

Espargaro, as well as his new role as a t൲est and reserve rider, will also work as a TV presenteඣr for DAZN who broadcast MotoGP in Spain.

It is a role which Dani Pedr꧟osa and Jorge Lorenzo⭕ already hold.

“It's going to be a littl൲e different from Dani's because I'm going to be at the races.

“My role as a commentator at the races is to bring the technical field a li𒐪ttle closer to people's homes because w😼e're seeing lately how motorcycles look more and more like F1 with more aerodynamics and more technical gadgets on the bike.

“That is often ve♌ry difficult to understand. “People may not know why a rider in the middle of the race starts to slow down and slows down and is overtaken by another competitor.

“Or how factories work and why a factory works bett༺er on one circuit and🐽 not on another, and perhaps all that is technical can be brought a little closer to the viewer from the circuit.

“I think it is a very interesting job.”