Pol Espargaró

Pol Espargaró

Nation:	Spain
Motorcycle world championship
Status:	active ( MotoGP )
Start number:	44
statistics
Starts Victories Poles SR 230 15th 18th 15th
World title:	1
World Cup points:	1942.5
Podiums:	46
Status: GP of Austria 2020
According to class (es): 125 cc class First start: 2006 Grand Prix of Catalonia Last start: Valencia Grand Prix 2010 Constructors 2006, 2008–2010  Derbi  • 2007  Aprilia World Cup balance World Cup third ( 2010 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 71 5 3 5 World Cup points: 708.5 Podiums: 21st Moto2 class First start: 2011 Qatar Grand Prix Last start: 2013 Valencia Grand Prix Constructors 2011  FTR  • 2012–2013  Kalex World Cup balance World Champion ( 2013 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 51 10 14th 10 World Cup points: 609 Podiums: 23 MotoGP class First start: 2014 Qatar Grand Prix Constructors 2014–2016  Yamaha  • 2017–2020  KTM World Cup balance World Cup sixth ( 2014 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 108 - 1 - World Cup points: 625 Podiums: 2

Pol Espargaró (l.) Together with Marc Márquez (m.) And Nicolás Terol (r.) At the 2010 Australian Grand Prix

Pol Espargaró in Assen, 2010

Pol Espargaró Villà (born June 10, 1991 in Granollers , Catalonia ) is a Spanish motorcycle racer .

His biggest success so far is winning the Moto2 - World Championship in the 2013 season . His older brother Aleix Espargaró is also a motorcycle racer.

Career

Pol Espargaró began his career in the Spanish Road Championship , in which he won the title in the 125 cc class in 2006 on Derbi ahead of Esteve Rabat and Jonas Folger . At the 2006 Grand Prix of Catalonia , he started the motorcycle world championship for the first time as a wildcard driver on a 125 cm³ Derbi . He reached 13th place, making him the youngest driver to ever score World Championship points. He replaced the injured Andrea Iannone in the Campetella Racing Junior team in the last six races of the season and finished sixth in the last race of the year, the Valencia Grand Prix , which earned him 20th place overall.

In the following season Espargaró went to continue on an Aprilia of Campetella teams with third place in the Grand Prix of Portugal for the first time on the podium and finished the year in ninth place. Back at Derbi, he took third place in Italy in 2008 , as well as second places in Catalonia and Indianapolis, and was again ninth in the overall standings.

In 2009 Espargaró celebrated his first Grand Prix victory in Indianapolis , and later even won the second in Estoril , Portugal . He was also third three times and finished the season in fourth place. In 2010 he won the Grand Prix of Spain , France and Aragon , finished second in Great Britain , the Czech Republic , Malaysia , Australia and Valencia and came third in Italy, the Dutch TT , Catalonia and Indianapolis. In the overall standings, the Spaniard took third place behind Marc Márquez and Nicolás Terol .

In the 2011 season , Pol Espargaró competed for the Tuenti Speed ​​Up team on FTR in the Moto2 class of the Motorcycle World Championship. The season was chaotic, with two podiums, but also many falls and a 13th place overall. He was clearly defeated by his teammate Andrea Iannone with 177 to 75 points.

2012 changed Espargaró for two years for Team Pons 40 HP Tuenti by Sito Pons and drove from now a Kalex alongside Esteve Rabat. The previous year, his brother Aleix, who had since returned to the MotoGP class, competed for the same team. Espargaró finished on the podium in each of the first three races, including a first win at the Spanish Grand Prix . In the fourth race of the season, the French Grand Prix , he only finished sixth, but took the championship lead anyway. He won three more races in the further course of the season and was runner-up behind Marc Marquez.

In 2013 , Espargaró finally became world champion with six wins.

In 2014 Espargaró moved up to the MotoGP class and drove a Yamaha in the Tech 3 team , initially with a two-year contract. His deal was announced in the summer of 2013 after Tech 3 regular rider Cal Crutchlow announced his move to Ducati Corse . His teammate was the Briton Bradley Smith . The season went great. In contrast to Smith, he never managed to get onto the podium, with fourth place at the French Grand Prix as the best result. Nevertheless, he finished 14 times in the top 10 in 18 races and finished the season as sixth overall and best rookie and satellite driver. He had left Smith behind with 136 to 121 points within the team.

In the 2015 season , Espargaró was ninth overall, but this time lost to Smith within the team with 181 to 114 points, which was enough to stay with the team next year. In 2016 , Espargaró finished the season in eighth place and thus for the third time in a row in the top 10 and this time clearly defeated Smith with 134 to 62 points. In early summer it was announced that both would compete for the new KTM Factory Racing Team next year .

In 2017 , Espargaró's best placements were two ninth places. He was 17th overall and defeated Smith within the team with 55 to 29 points. In the 2018 season , Pol Espargaró took his first podium in the MotoGP class in Valencia , as well as the first ever podium for KTM in the premier class . Nevertheless, with 51 points, he collected fewer points than in every previous MotoGP season, but still improved to 14th overall. His contract was extended by two more years in the spring.

In 2019 , for the first time in his MotoGP career, Pol Espargaró had not Bradley Smith as a teammate, but two-time Moto2 world champion Johann Zarco , who had replaced him at Tech3 two years earlier. This season was by far the best so far for the Spaniard on KTM, so he was able to collect 100 points and finish the season in eleventh place. Zarco, on the other hand, had only collected 27 points and had been exchanged for test driver Mika Kallio , who had collected seven points , six races before the end .

In 2020 Espargaró will have his final season for KTM, as it was announced before the MotoGP season start, which was delayed to July 19 due to the COVID-19 pandemic , that he will be alongside his former 125cc and Moto2 in 2021 -Rivalen and MotoGP world champion Marc Márquez for the already six-time Repsol Honda - factory team will go into the MotoGP class at the start. His team mate for 2020 is former Moto3 world champion Brad Binder . The 2020 season started for Espargaró with sixth place at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez , followed by seventh place at the Andalusian Grand Prix on the same track. At the Czech Grand Prix , Espargaró fought a three-way battle for third place with the French Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo , but was forced to fall in the third lap by Zarco, who had meanwhile switched to Avintia - Ducati , and had to give up the race . In the same race, Binder was able to secure the first KTM victory in the premier class. At the Austrian Grand Prix , Espargaró led for several laps until the race had to be stopped due to a violent incident between Zarco and Franco Morbidelli . After the restart, Espargaró could no longer give the same pace. He was in fifth place until the race was finally over after a crash on lap 9 (after the restart), during which he also cleared Tech 3 KTM rider Miguel Oliveira . At the Styrian Grand Prix , Espargaró was able to secure his first pole position . Since his older brother Aleix had already clinched two poles at this point, Pol became the first brother of a pole setter in the premier class, who was also able to take a pole position. At the start he initially lost several places, but the race was again abandoned after Maverick Viñales fell violently . The restart gave him an advantage this time, four laps before the end he was able to take the lead again. At the beginning of the last lap the Spaniard was leading just ahead of Pramac- Ducati drivers Jack Miller and Oliveira, but the Australian was able to overtake him in the middle of the lap. It came to one of the most dramatic closing phases in MotoGP history. At the beginning of the last sector, the KTM factory driver took the lead again, but Miller immediately tried to counter. In the very last bend the two touched and left their line; Espargaró even got off the track. As a result, Oliveira won the race ahead of Miller, while Espargaró managed to save third place.

statistics

title

• 2006 - Spanish 125cc champion on Aprilia
• 2012 - Michel Metraux Trophy for the best Moto2 driver
• 2013 - Moto2 - World Champion on Kalex
• 2015 - Suzuka 8 Hours Winner with Bradley Smith and Katsuyuki Nakasuga on a Yamaha
• 2016 - Winner of the 8 Hours of Suzuka with Alex Lowes and Katsuyuki Nakasuga on a Yamaha
• 15 Grand Prix victories

In the motorcycle world championship

(Status: Austrian Grand Prix 2020)

season	class	motorcycle	run	Victories	Podiums	Poles	Points	Result
2006	125 cc	Derbi	7th	-	-	-	19th	20th
2007	125 cc	Aprilia	17th	-	1	-	110	9.
2008	125 cc	Derbi	14th	-	3	2	124	9.
2009	125 cc	Derbi	16	2	5	1	174.5	4th
2010	125 cc	Derbi	17th	3	12	-	281	3.
2011	Moto2	FTR	17th	-	2	-	75	13.
2012	Moto2	Kalex	17th	4th	11	8th	269	2.
2013	Moto2	Kalex	17th	6th	10	6th	265	World Champion
2014	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	18th	-	-	-	136	6th
2015	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	18th	-	-	-	114	9.
2016	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	17th	-	-	-	134	8th.
2017	MotoGP	KTM RC16	18th	-	-	-	55	17th
2018	MotoGP	KTM RC16	15th	-	1	-	51	14th
2019	MotoGP	KTM RC16	18th	-	-	-	100	11.
2020	MotoGP	KTM RC16	4th	-	1	1	35	10.
total			231	15th	46	18th	1942.5	1 world title

References

Web links

Commons : Pol Espargaró  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Pol Espargaró on the official website of the Motorcycle World Championship.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pol Espargaró Correra en Moto2 en 2011 en Tuenti Racing. www.lavanguardia.es, October 30, 2010, accessed November 9, 2010 (Spanish).