Espargaró misses out on victory after massive last-lap effort, Rabat & Pons crash out
It was the third consecutive podium for Pol Espargaró in the Moto2 Championship, this time at the Estoril circuit in Portugal, after battling in the front group for the entire race and fighting for victory with Marc Marquez in the last lap. The Pons 40 HP Tuenti rider didn’t give up at any moment and adds another 20 points to strengthen his second position in the standings and showing clearly that he’ll be one of the riders to fight for the title.
His teammates Tito Rabat and Axel Pons were less fortunate, neither of them able to finish the race after crashing out. Tito Rabat did a great comeback, passing more than a dozen riders until he settled in 6th position. At that moment he crashed and wasn’t able to get any points. Axel Pons was also showing a good pace and got close to scoring points when he lost grip at the front and crashed.
The next stop for the Pons 40 HP Tuenti Team will be in two weeks at Le Mans, scene of the French Grand Prix.
2. POL ESPARGARÓ
“I pushed until the end and shot my last bullet in the Esses, but I made a small mistake and lost out on the victory. Congratulations to Marc and I have to say that this duel was a lot of fun and only Nico was missing for a remake of the fights from two years ago in 125cc. In the race I was calm, thanks to the confidence I gained in the warmup where I was fastest and we solved the problems we had yesterday which kept us from qualifying better. Seeing Zarco in front of me distracted me slightly, but then I saw that he had no problems following Lüthi and Marquez.When Marc attacked I latched on to his rear wheel and started to study him and seeing that in acceleration he was much stronger I knew that I had to gamble under braking and as late as possible. With Lüthi two seconds behind I decided to risk it and go for the 25 points. In the end I scored 20 and my third podium in three races and now we will keep working to continue this way and that next time the duel for victory will turn out in my favour. I think the people who saw us at the track or at home had a good time, because in the last lap us two gave everything to win.”
TITO RABAT “It was a real shame, because I made up more than ten positions and practically secured the sixth position after a weekend with many problems on the front. In the warmup we found the key and we were riding in the 1’41s which gave me a lot of confidence ahead of the race. I didn’t start very well and lost some positions, but then I found the pace and started to gain positions. When I was in sixth, ahead of the second group, I was going comfortably but couldn’t catch Iannone. Six laps before the end I crashed and couldn’t complete the comeback we deserved for all the work the whole team did during the weekend. I hope that in Le Mans luck will be on our side and we can return to fight to be among the best like in Qatar.”
AXEL PONS“I was doing much better than during the practice sessions after having a good warmup, but halfway through the race I lost the front and went down. I tried to get back on track, but the entire left side of the bike was destroyed and it was completely impossible. It’s been a tough weekend in which I had a hard time finding the setup for the bike and when I did, I wasn’t riding far from the guys inside the points, I made a mistake and crashed. At Le Mans I hope to find the right way quickly be able to prepare for the race with better options.”
Souce: Pons Racing
