Pol Espargaro “glad to walk away with a top ten”

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) had a more difficult time in the changing conditions of the Malaysia GP weekend than his front row start and top five in Phillip Island, but the Spaniard kept his head down and stayed on the bike to take home a valuable haul of points. Although the start was delayed to allow conditions to improve, the torrential weather ahead of the race made it one of the biggest challenges of the year – but another top ten and the points haul form it sees Espargaro satisfied with the weekend after taking eighth in the title fight; ready to head home to Valencia and his last race weekend with the Tech 3 outfit.

Pol Espargaro (P9): "It was a very hard race and especially at the beginning where there was a lot of water on the track but I am glad to walk away with a top ten finish and some valuable championship points. Because of the rainwater on the asphalt, the visibility was limited and the more behind you were, the more time you lost in the first few laps as there weren’t any reference points regarding where to brake or accelerate, so it’s been really complicated. In addition, I didn't want to risk making any mistakes, therefore we have to be content with this 9th position. However, this result has ensured my 8th place in the Championship standings, plus I am classified ahead of a couple of the factory MotoGP riders so it is pleasing to have ended the oversea races in this way. Now, we’ll head back to Europe for the final round of the 2016 season, which will also be my last event with Tech3 so I’m highly motivated to do the best job that I can."