Pol Espargaro out of Qatar GP due to electronic ‘gremlin’
Three days of wind, varying temperatures and more development work with the KTM RC16 at the Losail International Circuit did not blow-in the results Red Bull KTM Factory Racing were expecting for the first round of nineteen in 2018 MotoGP. Pol Espargaro briefly put aside his technical issues from Saturday qualification to push up from a grid spot of 22nd and battle for 13th place with countryman Alvaro Bautista and within sight of the leading groups of the 22 lap affair. Sadly his designs on a slot near the top ten were dashed on lap 15 with a recurrence of the electronic ‘gremlin’ that curtailed his efforts in Saturday’s Q1.
Pol Espargaro:
“During the race I felt quite OK. I was fighting for thirteenth position with (Alvaro) Bautista and less than twenty seconds from the top guys. Seeing how the whole weekend went and what we could do towards the end then it was not too bad. Again the problem we had on Saturday put us out of the points and out of the race. I think it is just bad luck. I’m completely sure we’ll get this fixed and start again in Argentina.”