Already playing catch-up to the likes of Ducati, Aprilia and Yamaha after Fe🅘bruary’s opening test at Se🎃pang, KTM instead appeared to slip further behind at Portimao.

That means they have little choice but to try new parts - rat🥃her than the normal set-up work - during this weekend’s season-opener💃 at the same Portuguese track.

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Espargaro led the KTM/GASGAS challenge with 13th in Malaysia and hoped the main components of this year’s machine were locked in place. However, the fಞour RC16s were lodged near the bottom of the timeshe✃ets in Portimao.

While an ‘insane’ flying lap from 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Brad Binder put the South African ninth overall, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Jack Miller, Espargaro and rookie team-mate 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Augusto Fernandez were 17th, 18th and 21st respectively. The quartet al♚so looked outside 🌳the top 15 for race pace.

"As you saw in the [Portimao] test, we did not enjoy it as much as we did in Malaysia," Espargaro said. "We we🎶re much stronger there but the factory has been working these past days at home to figure out what happened and why here, with this tyre, it is not working as it should.

"It looks like ﷽they found some different reason♏s and some different stuff to try during the race weekend.

"Obviously it is not the best plan to go throu𓄧gh the weekend testing parts but we are thankful for that. The test was bad, but the 🔯factory was working hard to have some alternatives to play with the bike and that’s nice."

Despite their current woes, which Binder describes as a chronic lack of rear grip, Espargaro insists he still feels ‘better with the GASGAS than the Hond𝔉a’.

꧑"In Honda I had problems that did not allow me to ride as I would like. I had some spots in the year where I could ride good, but overall I feel better with the bike I have now. I feel better with the GASGAS than the Honda.

"I don’t know if I will be fast in the same places I was with the Honda and hopefully faster in others. Obviously chassis-wise I feel much mo🧜re comfortable with this one and it fits much more to mꦓy riding style and my riding characteristics."

Espargaro, also reunited with crew chief Paul Trevathan at Tech3 this yea🐼r, took just two podiums in two seasons with Honda, compared to five in his final season at Red Bull KTM.

But for now his tar🐷gets are modest: "Difficult [to predict] because in Malaysia we were not so bad, but here we were… I hope we can be in the ꦍtop ten consistently."