Danny Eslick Talks Being Thrown Into The Deep End Of Moto2

It was a tough day at the office for American Danny Eslick. His first foray into the Moto2 class at Le Mans ended at the bottom of the timesheets and 3.7 seconds off of the leader. Filling in for JPMoto Malaysia Suter’s injured rider Efren Vasquez, Eslick didn't expect miracles in one of the world's toughest championships, but the newness of it was a little bit overwhelming.

“Definitely been thrown to the wolves here,” Eslick said. “I didn’t expect to come out here run in the front - even though you always want to - but these guys are the best guys in the world. To step out on a motorcycle and a race track that I’ve never been on is a little bit overwhelming. It’s not like anything we have in America, you pull out here and there’s 100,000 people, or how many it is that are already here. It’s a lot to think about.”

Eslick’s not going to bring out an excuse sheet about the bike, he’s happy with the team. It’s just a lot different.

“I know I have a good opportunity on the Suter chassis and have really good group of guys, the crew chief Massimo and the crew working hard, it’s just up to me,” he said. “It’s a lot different. The chassis is really stiff and rigid compared to the Superstock, the more production street bikes that we ride at home.”

Again, it’s not just a new machine to get used to, it’s a new track. And the grand prix tracks are a lot different to most of the ones in the states.

“The track here is definitely different, turn one is really fast,” he said. “It’s really the only GP track I’ve ever ridden, other than the ones in the states. It’s sixth gear into turn one and you’re hauling the mail getting into there. Even me, the slowest guy out there, I still feel like I’m going fast. What is it, 30-something guys that are all on their game? They’ve all had some experience, probably most of them, at this track and with their bikes. It’s a big learning curve.”

In that learning process, Eslick is not trying to be a hero. He’s taking it step-by-step to get used to the tire wear and get comfortable with the bike, so that he doesn't yard sale the bike or himself. A sensible approach since there is only one bike, and more importantly, only one Eslick.

“Just trying to take the steps up the staircase,” he said. “Sometimes you can skip a step and maybe get away with it, but sometimes you skip that step and you end up hitting your head. Nobody wants to come over here and tear the bike up or hurt yourself. We have the championship at home."

Tomorrow’s a new day. He’ll have the night to think on it and it won’t be all new in the morning. Even so, Eslick is realistic that the others have a night to think on it as well.

“I’ve always, whenever I went to British Superbike or the Brazilian Championship, it’s like, the first day go learn the track, kind of get familiar with the bike,” he said. “Once you sleep on it and come back, usually it comes a little bit easier the second day. But the same thing’s going to happen with these guys. They’re going sleep on it and do their homework, and their crew chiefs are, and their going to be even faster. So even if I get out there and go a half second or second faster, the top guys are going to go even faster”

As such, he’s set some realistic goals.

“Like I said, obviously we’d love to come out here and win and kick everybody’s butt, but that’s a long, long, long shot,” he said. “Our goal is to just get my feet wet, get some experience and maybe get up to mid pack, not the bottom of the sheet, that’s our goal right now. Even somewhere around 20th would be a solid finish. Hopefully that’s with other people finishing, not with crashing out, but we’ll take it anyway we can get it.”

His rival Josh Herrin got embarrassed in the Moto2 class in 2014, coming off of an AMA Superbike title. Eslick put all of that into perspective given the nature of the championship.

“It’s tough. Everybody’s pretty hard on him [Herrin],” Eslick said. “It’s not like he wanted to come over here and run at the back. It's a very tough championship. I mean the best riders in the world are out here. Nobody’s slacking out here, everybody’s on their game – some of the best teams and the best riders. The only thing that’s about equal are the engines and the tires. There’s a big difference in each team’s motorcycle.”

Herrin and Eslick are two different riders. Eslick’s an old school rider with dirt track roots. He likes to slide around and hang it loose, but does that work with a Moto2 bike or do you have to be more precise?

“I think it’s a bit of both,” he answered. “These bikes aren’t very loose. I think some of it has to do with the tires. The chassis’ are very stiff and rigid, the chassis’ are proper race bikes, and the tires to me here are a lot better, a lot higher level than what I’m used to riding on at home, back in the USA.

“I grew up racing flat track, so the bike moving around doesn’t bother me so much, but it’s just getting a feel for it. When it slides going into the corner is one thing, but from the middle of the corner once you get to the throttle off, it’s a big difference. And these 600 Hondas they don't have a lot of low RPM horsepower, you really have to have them high revs and lots of corner speed. I think once you break the thing loose, in some of the slower corners, or in the middle of the corner, it doesn't really have the power to pull that tire. So it’s easy to highside yourself.”

He’s not throwing in the towel though. Eslick’s going to watch some tape and see what he can pickup and try again tomorrow.

“Even as a little kid my mom would film all of our races, and we’d go back at the end of the day or on the drive home and watch who did what and if you got beat see what that person did and see where you can improve,” he said. “There’s always room for improvement even when you’re at the top of your game. I’ll definitely being doing some homework tonight. Just a big learning curve right now. Like I said earlier, I’ve been thrown to the wolves and they’re eating me up right now.”