Pol Espargaro admits imminent factory Yamaha move unlikely

Pol Espargaro’s ambitions of being a factory Yamaha rider in the near future might be on hold for considerably longer than he might have imagined.

The current Moto2 world champion rides for the satellite Tech 3 squad with Briton Bradley Smith, but his contract is direct with Yamaha in Japan.

He had hoped to secure a move to a factory YZR-M1 in 2015, but Valentino Rossi is poised to announce a new deal.

And with Jorge Lorenzo unlikely to entertain the massive career risk of moving to Ducati, the door is about to slammed in Espargaro’s face.

The 23-year-old though admits he will have to earn his big factory chance in the future after a breakthrough weekend in Le Mans.

He claimed a brilliant first front row start and then finished just over 0.5s from a stunning debut podium in fourth.

Espargaro told MCN: “All riders want to be in a factory team and hopefully one day I will deserve to go there. But I have to earn it. I have to do a good job to be in the factory team and if they keep Lorenzo and Rossi then I can’t do anything. Yamaha have to believe in my talent and if it goes good then my future will be good. Right now there is no place in the factory team. I’m happy in Tech 3, so it wouldn’t be a problem to stay with them another year.”