KTM factory rider Pol Espargaro was in the lead when the race in Spielberg was stopped last Sunday after the crash of Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco and was later restarted. The Spaniard was allowed to dash off from position 1 on the second attempt.
He was in the top 3 up to the fifth lap, then Pol lost a position to Alex Rins and three laps later to his Suzuki teammate Joan Mir. The Red Bull KTM driver did not come back from the ninth lap because Tech3 brand colleague Miguel Oliveira had cleared him.
“The fact that we were so weak in the second compared to the first race was because we no longer had a medium rear tire,” said Espargaro. «That was the mistake of all of us: from me, from the team, from KTM. Neither of us had taken into account a demolition. “
“That day was like a roller coaster ride,” said team manager Mike Leitner. «In the first race, Pol got it right to the point, everything worked well. I know exactly what he would have done. The bad crash destroyed his dream, we can all count ourselves lucky that no driver was injured very badly. The fact that he didn’t have the same tire in race two was bad for him, so he couldn’t get the same performance. It was very unfortunate that our two drivers crashed in a corner. “
The Austrian continues: “Brad Binder showed a great race, didn’t make any mistakes and stayed calm. He rode a MotoGP bike for the first time in Spielberg, and fourth place is excellent for a rookie. We are also very happy with Iker Lecuona. He’s finished a race for the first time this season, we’ve always seen his potential. After falling in the first three races, he stayed cool, brought the bike home and finished ninth. Overall, KTM had a good weekend, even if we would have liked to see Pol win. “
Results MotoGP Spielberg, August 16:
1. Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati
2. Joan Mir, Suzuki, +1,377 sec
3. Jack Miller, Ducati, +1,549
4. Brad Binder, KTM, +5,526
5. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, +5.837
6. Takaaki Nakagami, Honda, +6,403
7. Danilo Petrucci, Ducati, +12,498
8. Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha, +12.534
9. Iker Lecuona, KTM, +14,117
10. Maverick Vinales, Yamaha, +15,276
11. Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia, +17,772
12. Michele Pirro, Ducati, +23.271
13. Bradley Smith, Aprilia, +24,868
14. Alex Marquez, Honda, +24,943
15. Cal Crutchlow, Honda, +27,435
16. Tito Rabat, Ducati, +28,502
17. Stefan Bradl, Honda, +28,609
World Championship stand after 4 of 14 races: 1. Quartararo, 67 Punkte. 2. Dovizioso 56. 3. Viñales 48. 4. Binder 41. 5. Rossi 38. 6. Nakagami 37. 7. Miller 36. 8. Morbidelli 31. 9. Mir 31. 10. Zarco 28. 11. Petrucci 20. 12. Rins 19. 13. Pol Espargaró 19. 14. Oliveira 18. 13. Alex Márquez 15. 16. Aleix Espargaró 11. 17. Bagnaia 9. 18. Smith 8. 19. Lecuona 7. 20. 17. Rabat 7. 21. Crutchlow 7. 22. Pyrrhus 4.
Constructors’ championship: 1. Yamaha 81. 2. Ducati 67. 3. KTM 57. 4. Suzuki 44. 5. Honda 37. 6. Aprilia 16.
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