Pol Espargaro takes excellent second place in Italy, Rabat and Pons crash out after good battles
Pol Espargaró was fighting for victory at the Mugello circuit, scene of the Italian Grand Prix, until the finish, overcoming the pain after his crash on Saturday morning after a serious collision with Johann Zarco.
The Pons 40 HP Tuenti rider was narrowly beaten by Italian home hero Andrea Iannone with a difference of only 0.009 seconds over the line, after making up 1.3 seconds in the last four laps. With this result, his fifth podium of the season, Polyccio is second in the championship standings, getting a little closer to current leader Marc Marquez with a gap of now 34 points.
After a frantic beginning with a very large group of riders at the front, among them Pol Espargaró and Tito Rabat, who unfortunately crashed halfway through the race, the positions only slowly started to be defined with a first attack from Thomas Lüthi and a second from Pol. Only the strong comeback from Andrea Iannone, with a stunning four final laps, could prevent the third victory of the season for the Pons Moto2 Team.
2. POL ESPARGARÓ “It’s been a very tough race – battling with many riders in the first laps, the heat and the pain in almost my entire body after yesterday’s crash. In the initial laps I had to overcome the fear and think of pushing again, but I couldn’t find a way to get ahead and push and there I wasted more of the tyres than necessary. Eight laps to the end I decided to push and try to escape and although I achieved that I couldn’t keep up the gap and Iannone came back to catch me. I tried until the finish line, but today my bike wasn’t the fastest and going onto the home straight in second I couldn’t beat him. I had a moment three corners before the line and decided that 20 points are better than zero, so I tried it without risking more than necessary and we go for holidays having reduced the gap in the championship. I wanted to win, but after the impact from yesterday and going to hospital, a second place is something to be happy about.”
TITO RABAT “It’s been a real pity, after some problems in the practice sessions I made a good start and rode pretty comfortable behind the lead group, following Pol, Lüthi, Iannone and Marc. Aegerter passed me and trying to get back to not let the lead escape I lost the grip in turn three and crashed out. I’m very sorry for the team, because they’ve done a great job to make us competitive for the race and I hope to have more luck in the next races.”
AXEL PONS “I went down when I was behind the group fighting for points, locking the front and losing the control over the bike. It was a shame, because today the bike went really well and I already went fast in the warmup. I think I still lack a bit of good luck to finish races, so we have to keep working to improve in the second half of the season.”
Source: Pons Racing Press Release
