Espargaro takes smart victory in front of home fans, Rabat 12th after good battle, Pons 17th
Pol Espargaró took his third win of the 2012 season, adding Motorland Aragón to his wins at Jerez and Silverstone. It’s his ninth podium of the year, the fifth consecutive, and it puts him 48 points behind leader Marc Márquez and 32 points in front of Italian Andrea Iannone in the fight for the runner-up spot in the championship.
The Tuenti Móvil HP 40 rider rode a fantastic race, staying patient at the beginning and then launching a terrific attack with three laps to go which none of the other riders was able to respond to.
Tito Rabat finished in 12th position after going wide in the final lap and losing seventh place which he defended against the constant attacks from Johann Zarco and Simone Corsi.
Teammate Axel Pons was left without any points as he finished third in the battle with Kallio, Aegerter and Simón, but with a pace which would have seen him in the top ten without the traffic he encountered in the first laps.
1. POL ESPARGARÓ “It was a tough and fun race where my attack three laps before the end served me well. In the beginning I struggled a little bit and the aim was not to lose touch with the lead. Little by little I caught up again and in the end I could take a victory which I owed to myself and to all the sponsors of the team who left the Catalunya Circuit sad and this time it was a great joy. In the last lap I saw that I had a bit of a gap and I pushed to the limit, because under no circumstances did I want the same thing to happen as two weeks ago at Misano. The arrival of Tuenti Móvil as our main sponsor gave me luck and I want to continue like this until the end of the season, where I’ll fight to the end even when there’s only a 1% mathematical chance to be champion.
It’s my second win at Motorland, a track where I feel at home and which is just as good to me as Indianapolis, and I hope it will stay a good luck charm in the future.”
12. TITO RABAT “Everything went well until the final lap when I went wide while I was in seventh and lost five places and many points. During the whole race I lacked a bit of grip, enough to not be able to fight for the podium. The fight with Smith, Zarco and Corsi was fun, but it’s a shame I couldn’t top it off with a better result. I think we did a good job and I hope to make a step forward in the last four races of the season, in which I’m confident I can make up some places in the championship.”
17. AXEL PONS “It’s been a pretty positive weekend, especially because of our performance in the dry. In the two dry sessions we’ve been competitive and in the race we missed only a little bit to be in the points. But also, if it hadn’t been for two slower riders who I struggled to get past in the beginning, my pace was the same as in the group fighting for eighth place.”
Source: Pons Racing Press Release
