Pol Espargaro (13th) after duel with Razgatlioglu: gap is “embarrassing”

Pol Espargaro had every reason to be satisfied with his 13th place at the Silverstone Grand Prix. Three points was more than anyone could have expected before he stepped in as a replacement for Maverick Viñales. Nevertheless, the KTM test rider came away feeling rather disappointed. The reason for this was the huge gap of 41.3 seconds to winner Raul Fernandez.

In a race marred by crashes, Espargaro did at least manage to finish ahead of two riders. He held off Superbike World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu and Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez to cross the line in 14th place. Espargaro also benefited from the penalty imposed on Yamaha works rider Fabio Quartararo and moved up to 13th place. Espargaro had finished Saturday’s sprint in 18th place.

Pol Espargaro ärgerte sich über den großen Rückstand

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“It wasn’t easy to stay on the bike,” Espargaro remarked after the 20-lap Grand Prix. Seven riders were forced to retire due to crashes. “My confidence wasn’t particularly high. Seeing a different rider on the ground every lap didn’t help matters.”

Pol Espargaro: Frustration at the huge gap

The Spaniard is particularly bothered by the gap of a good 40 seconds. “I was far too slow. It’s been a long time since I last raced here. What’s more, I hadn’t ridden the 1000cc machine for quite some time. I didn’t want to make any mistakes this weekend. And I managed that. But of course, I was far too slow.”

“I expect to be much stronger if I’m selected for the next race in Aragon. My confidence is growing, and my body and mind are processing what happened this weekend. If I carry on, everything will get better. But if I don’t get to race, that’s also a positive sign, because it would mean that Maverick is back,” remarked the Vinales stand-in.

Tyres and wear weren’t a problem for Espargaró

Tyre wear was also an issue at Silverstone this year. The long, fast corners put a lot of strain on the tyres. Particularly in the sprint race on the soft tyres, lap times were very slow towards the end of the race.

Did Espargaro manage his tyres better than his rivals? “I was far too slow to even think about saving the tyres,” he clarified, adding: “On my way to the grid, I saw everyone saving fuel and riding in eco-mode. I was riding flat out because I was going so slowly in the race that I didn’t need to save fuel.”

“I crossed the line 40 seconds behind. In the final laps, I was battling with Toprak. It was humiliating. But at least we had a bit of fun,” said Espargaro, commenting on his duel with the MotoGP rookie, whilst expressing his frustration at the huge gap: “It was a disaster. We need to learn from this experience for the future.”

Willkommen zum Rennen in Silverstone

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Fans

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Raúl Fernández

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Jorge Martin

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Start des Rennens

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Start des Rennens

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Alex Márquez und Pedro Acosta

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Jorge Martin

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Luca Marini

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Marc und Alex Márquez

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Raúl Fernández

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Pecco Bagnaia

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Marc Márquez und Fabio Di Giannantonio

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Moreira und Quartararo

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Raúl Fernández gewinnt das Rennen

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Silverstone-Sieger Raúl Fernández

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Martin, Fernández, Bezzecchi

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Sieger Raúl Fernández

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Willkommen zum Rennen in Silverstone

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