Augusto Fernandez 17th and Pol Espargaro 18th in the #ThaiGP at Buriram

Augusto Fernandez and Pol Espargaro maintained the heat at Buriram and a demanding 26-lap Grand Prix of Thailand as the GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 battled each other all the way to the flag for the seventeenth fixture of the season. Fernandez took 17th by a tenth of a second from his teammate.

The looming threat of dark clouds did not threaten the hot and dry status of the 26-lap Thai Grand Prix in Buriram and the final race of an intense three-week back-to-back schedule for MotoGP. A spectacular chase for the win around the 4.5km circuit kept the 75,000 attendance enthralled but there were juicy battles throughout the MotoGP field.

When the lights went out Augusto Fernandez had the bad luck to encounter a small issue with his brakes into the last corner of the first lap. He ran wide and had to rejoin at the rear of the pack. #37 concentrated on making up time and track space and felt quicker than he had all weekend at the Chang International Circuit. Fernandez soon found the rear wheel of his teammate. Pol Espargaro had been probing and experimenting for an optimal set-up through the Grand Prix with the harder Michelin tire allocation but was unsatisfied with his speed and feeling around the asphalt. The GASGAS RC16s circulated together and engaged in a close and entertaining spat. Augusto finally winning the contest by a fraction of a second to classify 17th.

After treks to Indonesia, Australia and now Thailand. MotoGP will take a breather for one week before the next triple tally in Malaysia, Qatar and Spain.

Augusto Fernandez, 17th:

“Well, a hard race. Especially because I lost a lot of time on the first lap when I ran wide and without brakes on the last turn. After that my pace was the best it has been all weekend. It was the fastest package I had here. It’s been a tricky three races in three weeks. We’ve made better speed but the results have not been there. We’ll rest briefly and then look for better in the final three GPs.”

Pol Espargaro, 18th:

“Not the best feeling in the race. I don’t think it was the tire choice but when the drop happens in hot temperatures and right after Moto2 then usually the grip is lower. I struggled a lot to make the bike turn and to stop it. I’m trying all I can but I’m not comfortable at the moment. We’ll keep working to turn things around.”