Espargaro on Catalunya controversy: “We don’t need to be friends, just respect and admiration”
The Pons Racing Team has published an extended statement from Pol Espargaro ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, regarding the controversy around his clash with Marc Marquez at the Catalunya Grand Prix. Espargaro makes it clear that there are no hard feelings on his part regarding the incident and that he looks forward to continue his rivalry with Marquez.
Below you can find the complete translation of the press release.
Pons 40 HP Tuenti rider Pol Espargaro has almost entirely recovered from the sprained ankle he suffered in the crash at the Catalunya Circuit and is prepared to be competitive again this weekend in Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. He’s going to Great Britain confident and eager to continue the fight for the top positions after three podium finishes in five races and as one of the four main contenders for the Moto2 title – together with Tom Lüthi, Marc Marquez and Andrea Iannone.
Pol, how have you spent these days after the race in Catalunya and what are your feelings and thoughts a week after what happened that day?
“I had time to think and need to express my feelings, to let all the fans know that after the accident we had two weeks ago at the Circuit de Catalunya and from which I almost recovered, that I am proud to compete against Marc Marquez, to share the same place and goal, the larger his achievements are, the larger are mine.
I’m fortunate enough to have the opportunity to live alongside him in this time, to write pages of my book and also of his. We have the same goal, win races and titles, the highest an athlete wants when he competes.
I want to win, but whether I succeed or not, I’ll always reach out a hand and look him in the face, firmly, for all the respect he has earned and deserves. Having him as a rival will make me stronger, greater, more human, because it requires me to work and make double the effort to beat him constantly, to stay ahead of the biggest possible opponent.
We continue our rivalry, his quality as a rider is extraordinary. We don’t need to be friends, but we need to feel a fierce respect and mutual admiration and thus the best wins and nobody loses.”
With regards to the British Grand Prix, Pol Espargaró confirms that he’s “on the way to recovery, although I still have some discomfort. First I took a few days of rest, but then I needed to get to work, both in the gym as well as practicing Supermoto. Silverstone is a track I like and where I was close to win in 125cc, in the first head-to-head with Marc. The weather forecast shows the return of rain, so we have to adapt, like we did in the practice in Portugal and the weekend in France, to give our best and get the best result possible.”
Source: Pons Racing