The transition to Aragon looked like an examination for a KTM team which is in its first season in MotoGP with its RC16 project. It was, in fact, a question of evaluating oneself on a track which this time was not unknown since tests had been carried out there. Then, it was the opportunity to gauge the starting drivers against the test driver who was also playing with his team. In the end, a good overall result with, in particular, a top 10. A satisfaction which, however, has its downside: Bradley Smith.
The fate of the Englishman who failed to convince his employers that he could stand comparison with Mika Kallio will be dealt with later. Because for the moment, at KTM, it’s time for congratulations. And to the relief, in particular of Pol Espargaro tenth, who finally made himself master of this devil of Rock sparkling during testing. But not by much. The Finn actually finished eleventh!
« It's fantastic » says the brother of Aleix who also had a good performance with the Aprilia. “ At the start of the season, we had problems which left us at the bottom of the standings, 50 seconds behind the leaders. Now we are less than 15 seconds away. The team did a very good job throughout this weekend ».
« We are really competitive. The bike gets better and better as each circuit passes. This is why I would like to congratulate the whole team and also the test team who, with Mika Kallio, showed great potential both in the race and in testing. It’s a nice overall result. ».
Pol Espargaro finished 14,075 seconds behind the winner and 6,557 seconds ahead of the Suzuki ofAndrea Iannone. Here he is tied with him in the championship, for a shared seventeenth place with 37 points.
Provisional ranking of the World Championship (Top 20):
1 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 224 points
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 208
3 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 196
4 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 170
5 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 168
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 117
7 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 106
8 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 95
9 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 92
10 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 84
11 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 70
12 Jack MILLER-Honda 56
13 Scott REDDING-Ducati 56
14 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 53
15 Loris BAZ-Ducati 39
16 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 37
17 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 37
18 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 28
19 Tito RABAT-Honda 28
20 Alex RINS-Suzuki 27
