We didn't give much for the skin of a Pol Espargaro physically diminished in the tropical torpor of the 26 laps of the race Thailand Grand Prix. The KTM official, however, had sworn that he would not give up this Sunday in Buriram. And the guy kept his word. He brought his RC16 to the finish, at the end of the effort. He was the last to be saluted by the checkered flag, but he is also a winner of the weekend.
He had to be replaced, his employer did everything to dissuade him from taking the risk of participating, but Pol Espargaro hard-headed. And extraordinary resistance. Injured twice to his left collarbone in Brno on August 5 and in Aragón on September 22, he qualified 19th in Buriram and finished 21st and penultimate, 53,8 seconds behind the winner. Marc Márquez.
The teammate of a Bradley Smith which brought KTM the point of fifteenth place finally reached the finish line after many difficult weeks. He held on, remembering Misano where he had to give up because of the pain. In Thailand, Pol assumed a defensive strategy from the start to survive the 26 laps, the equivalent of 118.404 km.
« I'm in a lot of pain but I'm happy to be able to do my job again“, sighed the KTM factory rider, who scored 13 times in 19 races between Assen 2017 and the same Dutch Grand Prix 2018, and always between ninth and thirteenth place.
« I had to be careful because a small brake mistake can cost you a lot of time. Besides, I am not able to take much risk after almost three months of injury. But I found my rhythm in the race, my teammate, my brother and Scott Redding were in front of me, I could play something. But finally, at a point in the race, I could no longer attack. I'm exhausted. But I'm happy to have made this comeback here, even if I'm not satisfied with the result. In Japan, in two weeks, I will be closer to 100 percent of my physical condition ».
Thai Grand Prix, Buriram, MotoGP J.3: classification.
| 1 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 39'55.722 |
| 2 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | +0.115 |
| 3 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | +0.270 |
| 4 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | +1.564 |
| 5 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | +2.747 |
| 6 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | +3.023 |
| 7 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | +6.520 |
| 8 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | +6.691 |
| 9 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | +9.944 |
| 10 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | +11.077 |
| 11 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | +15.488 |
| 12 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | Yamaha | +17.691 |
| 13 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | +21.413 |
| 14 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Honda | +22.802 |
| 15 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | +23.628 |
| 16 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Aprilia | +23.804 |
| 17 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | +32.507 |
| 18 | 10 | Xavier SIMEON | Ducati | +37.216 |
| 19 | 81 | Jordi TORRES | Ducati | +39.204 |
| 20 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Honda | +39.421 |
| 21 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | +53.388 |
| 22 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 2 lapses |
| Not Classified | ||||
| 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 8 lapses |
