Pons takes first points of the season as Espargaro retires with front end problems

This afternoon at the Estoril circuit the race of the Grand Prix of Portugal took place, fortunately without rain, but with the track in difficult conditions. It has also been difficult for the Pons HP 40 riders, although Axel Pons was able to fight for his first point of the season. The young Moto2 rider from Barcelona has been involved in a large group of riders, which also included his teammate Aleix Espargaro, and at the end finished in 15th. Espargaró came off worse with continuing problems in the front which did not allow him to ride comfortable, to such an extend that in the end he had to come back to the pits.

The next round of the Moto2 championship will be the French Grand Prix, held on the weekend of May 15th.

#80. Axel Pons: 15º
“At the beginning of the race I struggled a lot, because people were very aggressive and I did not quite get the feeling for the track which had a lot of damp patches. In this part I’ve missed the tow to the group that finished in front of me, which is where I think I should have been. After that I’ve improved my rhythm and started to push. I was involved in a group which had a lot of fighting with many touches which complicated the riding: you pass one and they pass you right back and it is difficult to push and set a pace. Despite this, overall I’m pretty happy. I scored a point which is not bad, especially considering that last year I had to wait until the Indianapolis race for this relief. From now on we have to keep adding points, trying to finish each time in a better position.”

#40. Aleix Espargaró: Retired
“It was a bit of a disaster. From the beginning I didn’t have confidence in the front, all the time it closed off the direction, the bike would not turn, like the rest of the weekend. I think it’s been my worst race since being in the world championship, it has been very frustrating to see how everyone passed me and I could not do anything and finally it was starting to get dangerous to keep riding in these conditions. Unfortunately I had to choose to retire. I’d like to apologize to the sponsors because this is the third race, in none of them I have lived up to the level I should and this must be changed. ”

Source: Pons Racing