GRAN PREMIO MOVISTAR DE ARAGON

25 September 2016

Espargaro finishes inside the top 8 under the Spanish sun at Aragon

Monster Yamaha Tech3 team rider Pol Espargaro delivered a relentless performance in front of nearly 70,000 fans today at the Aragon Grand Prix which he completed in 8^th. The young Spaniard impressively concluded the morning warm up in 3^rd place, which left him highly motivated for the afternoon. Here, he kicked off his fight from the fourth row of the grid and bolted forwards when the lights went out.Espargaro was shuffled back to 12^th place by the close of the first lap, yet he remained focused and set into a consistent rhythm as he targeted climbing back up through the field. The home hero progressed forward and by the 4^th lap, he was running in 9^th. Following this, he continued to inch closer to the rider ahead and on lap 16 he seized 8^th after moving past Andrea Dovizioso. He then set his sights on closing down the San Marino race winner, Dani Pedrosa and gave his all before eventually crossing the finish line in this position. The 2013 Moto2 World Champion now confidently looks ahead to the Japanese GP where he will aim to clinch the leading satellite honours atYamaha’s home Grand Prix alongside returning teammate, Bradley Smith.

Espargaro was the sole rider for the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team today after Alex Lowes, who was standing in for the injured Bradley Smith, was deemed unfit after being medically reviewed this morning following his crash in FP3 yesterday. In the accident, the young Briton injured his left foot and suffered swelling and contusion, which did not improve overnight and subsequently he was ruled out of the race.

Profil

“Pol’s result was a sweet end to what was a tricky Grand Prix. The whole team worked really hard after all the crashes that happened so to finish 8th was much more satisfying than it usually would be. For sure, Pol didn’t feel 100% physically or in terms of confidence, but he gave everything that he had. He lost a bit of time on the first lap, but was strong and consistent from there onwards and eventually finished less than 20 seconds to the winner, which is definitely a good performance. With a better grid position, I believe that we could have been in the Pedrosa, Crutchlow, Aleix group, but in the end I am very happy with Pol as he did his best and we got some strong points. Our Spanish rider is in a good shape, plus his confidence is returning and next up we are heading to the three flyaway races, that are going to be crucial. We are still on course for the top satellite rider position in the standings, which I know, is important for Pol and everyone at Tech3 will push until the end to try to get that title with him. On the other side of the garage, it is a big shame to end the three GP’s with Alex Lowes in the way it did and he was just really unlucky with the crash in FP3. I would like to thank him once again, he is a great guy who showed his potential and that he is more than capable of riding successfully in MotoGP. We all hope Alex recovers well and I want to wish him luck for Superbike race in France as well as for the remainder of the season. Also, I hope to have him again in the box with us soon. Thanks to the whole team who worked tirelessly, but next up is Japan and I hope everybody gets a good rest before we head east.”

Pictures for editorial only - Copyright Monster Yamaha Tech3 2016

GRAN PREMIO MOVISTAR DE ARAGON

25 September 2016

TRACK DATA

Pole position : Left
Length : 5,078 m
Width : 15 m
Corners : 17 (7 right, 10 left)
Longest Straight 968 m
Constructed 2009
Modified -

CIRCUIT LOCATION

GPS Circuit Entrance: N 41º04.853’, W 0º12.191’

HISTORY

An ultra-modern facility, MotorLand Aragón had its roots firmly established thanks to a solid history of street racing in Alcañiz, which hosted events between 1963 and 2003. Safety advice warning against the continuation of this led to the proposal and construction of a sporting complex dedicated to motorsport. With support from local institutions, renowned German architect Hermann Tilke was commissioned to design the facility. The circuit, which is 5.077km long and has 17 turns, was roundly praised by riders after its first Grand Prix in 2010, and it was rewarded with the IRTA Best Grand Prix of the Year award, the first time a circuit had received the prize in its debut year.