Espargaro leads Moto2 race for first time ever and finishes 5th after battling strong wind

Pol Espargaró has been leading a Moto2 race for the first time in his life, evoking not-so-old memories of his time in 125cc and proving he can be as competitive as anyone in the intermediate class.
The HP Tuenti Racing rider made a great start at Phillip Island, site of the Grand Prix of Australia, and moved from sixth on the grid to first within two laps. Two laps later a gust of wind pushed him off track and he dropped to ninth position from which he started a new comeback up to fifth, the second-best result this year after the podium in Indianapolis. Polyccio has moved up three positions also in the overall Moto2 standings and is now 13th, only 11 points behind the Top 10. The next race will be held next weekend at Sepang (Malaysia)

5. Pol Espargaró: “I’m happy with the result and the first part of the race when I’ve rode in first, but then I made a couple mistakes, because of the gusts of wind, which kept me from getting on the podium. Leading a race again, even though not for long, was a nice feeling and I hope to repeat it many times in the future. In that moment I’ve stepped up and started to push, but my pace was slightly slower than Bradl and De Angelis and I could not follow them, as well as Marquez also escaping afterwards. After the race Lüthi came to complain about a race incident, but there was no reason to, because I was lucky not to crash because of the wind and I couldn’t do anything to stay on the line and went out. We got many points, moved up three positions in the championship and go to Malaysia with a good feeling and motivation to add more.”

Source: HP Tuenti