Pol Espargaro ready to race in Malaysia

Belson Derbi´s Pol Espargaro remains upbeat despite the minor bone fractures he suffered in his right hand when he crashed on the first day of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix and believes he will be close to 100% in Malaysia.

After the crash at Phillip Island the young Catalan rider struggled to find a good set-up for his Derbi 125cc machine all weekend, but still managed to finish a creditable fifth in the race – albeit nearly 30 seconds off the race-winning pace - as he rode through the pain barrier.

`At Phillip Island I simply took some painkillers from Clinica Mobile and got on with it. It was fine at the beginning of the race but they started to wear off and I was suffering a bit towards the end. Anyway, we weren´t able to run at the front due to the setting of the bike which we couldn´t get right all weekend,´ he said.

Immediately after returning to Spain from Australia the younger Espargaro brother went to see specialist Dr Xavier Mir, who scanned the right hand and advised his patient that he had suffered small cracks in two of his fingers. The rider has been advised to rest the hand as much as possible but has been given the all-clear for the last two rounds of the season at Sepang and Valencia.

Looking at the wider picture, Espargaro added, `This year we have had too many disappointments and have not been able to achieve the success we want. I´ve worked really hard but have just been missing that bit of luck. I wanted to be higher in the standings but it just hasn´t been possible. In the last two races I will be looking for that elusive victory for me and the team.´