American dream comes true for younger Espargaró

Pol Espargaró’s first Grand Prix victory has been on the cards for a considerable time, given the obvious talents of the 18 year-old Spaniard and the five podium finishes he had already achieved before he finally triumphed at Indianapolis on Sunday.

Indeed, Espargaró came mighty close to that first win last year in the first ever Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix as he contested the race lead with countryman Nico Terol and had overtaken him before the contest was stopped due to rain, with the final places taken from the riders’ positions on the previous lap.

This time it was Terol’s turn to suffer as he missed out on the podium having held the lead for much of the race, with Espargaró cashing in thanks to a superb last lap performance which saw him hold off Briton Bradley Smith and Italian Simone Corsi.

“I’m stll on cloud nine really and I’m just trying t let it sink in,” commented the teenager from Catalunya following the 125cc contest. “I was quite nervous at the start and was taking a few risks in order to keep up with Terol, who had a really fast machine. I managed to relax a bit and then we all just started to ride at an unbelievable pace, faster than in practice.

The Derbi rider continued, “When I saw my name in first place on the big screens I started crying, because I feel like I have deserved this win for a long time and for one reason or another it just hasn’t happened until now.”

The victory pushes Espargaró up to sixth in the general standings.