Pol Espargaro believes KTM is closing down the MotoGP frontrunners "more than the others", after finishing just 15 seconds from second in the Argentine Grand Prix.
Espargaro finished just 12s from the victory in the Qatar season-opener in 12th, while taking the chequered flag 15s adrift of Argentina race runner-up Valentino Rossi in 10th spot.
The KTM rider admits it was not an “amazing race” for him at Termas de Rio Hondo as the RC16 is “missing” rear grip.
But he feels the Austrian marque is still “closing the gap to the top guys”, and called his deficit to the podium in Argentina a "nice gap".
“Satisfied, for sure,” Espargaro said of his race to motogp.com.
“We finished – well, 25 seconds off [race winner Marc] Marquez – but 15 seconds off of second.
“This means it's a nice gap, we are closing the gap to the top guys. We're still missing in some points.
“We're missing a lot of grip and in these conditions, I struggled a lot to ride. But, as I said, a top 10 is good.
“The bike is getting better. I think in the tracks in Qatar, Argentina, and now Texas, it's tracks where we've struggled these last years.
“We've been a lot of seconds from the top, but finally we are closing the gap.
“Everyone is closing the gap, but my feeling is we're closing more than the others, and we're going better and better.”
Oliveira 'adapting well' to MotoGP
MotoGP rookie Miguel Oliveira finished just two tenths adrift of Espargaro in 11th on the Tech3-run KTM in Argentina.
The Portuguese rider believes the fact he is mixing it with the “top” KTM rider proves he is “adapting quite well” to the premier class.
“Two races in I can safely say I'm adapting quite well,” he said.
“We know we have our struggles, but already I'm battling with the top guy of KTM, who has much more experience than me.
“So I think it shows I'm adapting good to the category and the bike. And I think it's definitely a positive the start of this season.”
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