World Champion! Pol Espargaro secures Moto2 title in perfect fashion with victory at Motegi

Tuenti HP 40 rider Pol Espargaró made the dream of every racer come true, one which he had been pursuing since he was three years old and sat on a motorbike for the first time. The rider from Granollers has taken victory at the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi today and with this crowns himself as the new champion of the Moto2 class with still one race to go.

The race started with Pol leading the front group, but before finishing the opening lap the race had to be red-flagged after a multiple crash in the early corners, involving Scott Redding and Pol’s teammate Tito Rabat. The crash left Redding unable to line up for the restart, being treated in the hospital on his right arm and Tito Rabat suffering a heavy blow to his ankle.

The restarted race was set for 15 laps, for Espargaro it would have been enough to finish in the Top 6 to clinch the title with neither Redding nor Rabat able to restart. But far from riding conservative, Pol pushed from the first corner to win. After a great start, Espargaro led the race over the line after the first lap, closely followed by Finnish rider Mika Kallio who did all he could to stay in Pol’s slipstream. Pol showed a great pace to open a gap on Kallio and by lap 8 he was leading by more than a second. From there the Spaniard managed the gap and crossed the line in first position, his sixth victory of the season, to become Moto2 world champion.

1º POL ESPARGARÓ “I think that this title is a group effort, a family title. This team is not only a team, it’s been a family to me. It was a very difficult day for us, Scott and my teammate Tito have been very tough rivals throughout the year. I mad some mistakes at the start of the season and I was falling behind in many races. In Montmeló we were 47 points behind and it seemed impossible to become champion.

I’ve had moments of doubt, but in this team they always supported me, always told me that we were going to do it and that I am the best. I remember something Sito told me a while ago, that when you win the title, this moment, you will remember for the rest of your life, that it is very important and it will change your life. I still can’t quite believe it, but I want to enjoy this with the team, with my family, my girlfriend and all the people who support me, because 90% of this title belongs to them.”

TITO RABAT “It was a tough day. I crashed in the first lap and I was very lucky that Scott reacted quickly and was able to avoid me. It was a shame that I couldn’t restart the race. I want to congratulate my teammate Pol, because he did a great season and deserves the title.”

13º AXEL PONS “It was a good day. I was hoping to finish better, but keeping in mind that I started from far behind and that this Grand Prix was very difficult, I think we have to be satisfied. We have worked very well this morning in the warmup and found a good setup thanks to the team which helped me a lot. At the end I caught up with a group which was fighting for 11th place. Now we have to focus on Valencia to try and improve the result from Japan there.”

Source: Pons Racing