Mugello proved to be a difficult weekend for Pol Espargaro who was never quite able to capture the speed he’d shown at the start of the season and started outside the top ten on the grid for the second time in 2016. His focus remained as the lights went out on Sunday and he pushed to stay with the top riders but came into contact with a number of his rivals, costing him vital time. After the busy opening laps the Spaniard continued working his way to 12th, but his charge came to a premature end as he fell on lap nine. Fortunately he was able to remount his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine and did all he could to make the best of a bad situation, eventually crossing the line in 15th.
Although it wasn’t an ideal weekend, Pol Espargaro remains at the head of the Independent Team standings and still holds a five-point lead over Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing). Espargaro doesn’t have to wait long for his chance to return to form, the Catalan GP taking place just two weeks after Mugello. Montmelo is also the home circuit for the Espargaro brothers, each having a significant number of fans at the circuit.
Pol Espargaro: “We had the speed over the entire weekend but we just weren't able to score the result that we needed to today. The team and I had to face quite a few difficulties at this event, but with regards to the race, if you start from that far behind, you have to either pass a lot of riders really quickly or any hope of a good finish is gone. I tried to overtake as much as I could at the beginning but as a result I had some contact with other riders which caused me to lose a lot of time in the initial laps. I saw that the group in front was getting away from me so I pushed harder and caught up to Pirro. However, the Ducati’s are strong at this track, so it takes that bit extra to pass them. In the end, I ended up braking a bit too late when I tried to overtake him and I ran off the asphalt. I fell but I was able to pick up the bike and finish the race. We will leave Italy with only one point in our pocket, which is not at all what we aimed for but at least it’s something. Next up is my home GP in Montmelo where I fully intend to do a much better job and seal a great result in front of my home fans.”