Pol Espargaro delivered a gritty performance at the Gran Premio TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, finishing the race in ninth place as he returned to action following a spectacular first lap crash at Silverstone the previous weekend.
Having qualified in tenth place on the Misano grid, the 25 year-old Spaniard lunged forward from the head of the fourth row and after the first lap he crossed the line in the same position.
The Monster Yamaha Tech3 man then quickly built up his pace and his strong rhythm saw him close down his brother Aleix Espargaro in front, whom he powered past on lap 8. The 2013 Moto2™ World Champion continued to push as he reduced the gap to Cal Crutchlow and Michele Pirro in the final stages of the race and he eventually crossed the line ninth.
Pol Espargaro: "I did my absolute best in the race but I have to admit that it was a challenging GP. It was very physically demanding and I struggled with the full fuel load, the bike moved a lot and my leg started to hurt a bit which certainly didn’t make things easier. In addition, at the beginning, it was tough to get past Aleix because his bike seemed to have the upper hand, but I pushed onwards and passed him on the 8th lap because he made a slight mistake whilst entering the last corner, which I rode perfectly.
“Then, in the last stages of the race, I was hunting down Cal and I got close because he was suffering a lot, plus I rode a 1’33.9 in the penultimate lap which helped to reduce the gap to 1.4s and I gave it everything I had. I am only four points from Cal in the standings, so we have to try and lower this at the next round and therefore I will be back stronger in Aragon.”