Espargaró takes over championship lead with conservative ride to 6th position
Pol Espargaró managed a great race at the French Grand Prix in Le Mans, finishing sixth and scoring ten points which together with a crash of Marc Márquez will see him start the Gran Premio de Catalunya as the leader of the Moto2 championship.
The Pons 40 HP Tuenti rider led into the first corners after the red lights went out, staying within the lead group for several laps. As he was passed by eventual winner Tom Lüthi he lost several positions and witnessed the crash of Marc Márquez in the middle of the race, causing him to ride more conservative than usual to secure the vital championship points.
Teammate Tito Rabat also showed a decent performance, finishing eleventh and scoring five points in his first wet race with the Kalex, while Axel Pons managed to recover many positions after a bad start and only a touch with Swiss rider Dominique Aegerter a few laps before the finish line kept him from scoring his first championship points of the year.
6. POL ESPARGARÓ “I’m very happy about the result and having taken the lead in the championship, although it’s only been four races and the important thing is to have it at the end of the season. A sixth place on a dry track would have been a little disappointment, but with this much water it was very difficult to stay on the bike. I saw the crash of Marquez and maybe that caused me to ride a little more conservative, losing several positions because my pace was dropping as I thought more about the points. Then I went faster again, but at all times I was more conservative than aggressive to avoid a crash.
Now we go as the leader to our home race, with all my fans on the grandstands and the confidence of having collected as many points in these first four races of this season as I did last year in the entire championship. Before this race Marc was nine points ahead and we recovered all of them, which gives us a lot of confidence ahead of the race at the Catalunya circuit and the next ones in the championship. The team has done a great job and we showed that we can do well in all kinds of conditions, something very important when we come to races with the risk of rain like England, Holland, Germany or Australia.”
11. TITO RABAT “After such a chaotic weekend I was able to finish the race, regain confidence and collect a good many points. This was my first race in the wet with the Kalex and I’m happy, because my pace has increased and I finished on a very dangerous track and didn’t make any mistakes like many other riders. I go home satisfied, because it was important to finish and I was also very close to the top ten, which gives me a lot of confidence ahead of the next races.”
17. AXEL PONS “I’ve gone down in the final lap when I was about to score my first point of the season. I started pretty bad, the rear wheel sliding on the grid and I lost many positions. Then I started to improve my rhythm and gained positions, little by little getting closer to my target. Everything was ruined just a bit before the finish line when Aegerter touched me and I crashed, still able to cross the finish line, but outside the first 15. The important thing is that we improved a lot and I hope to do a good race in two weeks at the Catalunya circuit.”
Source: Pons Racing
