Somkiat Chantra scored his first point at Assen, partly thanks to Aleix Espargaró, who helped him by riding in front of him during the race.
That's it, Somkiat Chantra did it! The Thai was the only rider not to have scored any points yet this season, except for Jorge Martín, who only took part in one Grand Prix, and Aleix Espargaró who made three wild cards. Of course, he was far ahead in the standings, and he was able to count on the crashes in front of him in the race, but he nevertheless opened his points account.
Will this first symbolic point allow him to move up a gear at the next Grand Prix in two weeks? It's hard to say given the tough competition, but Chantra has the merit of never having given up, even though some point the finger at his legitimacy in MotoGP.
Race after race, he has moved towards the back of the standings without ever losing faith. As a reminder, he is also the only Honda rider not riding this year's RC213V and must therefore contend with an even more demanding bike than the one his teammates ride, in addition to being a rookie.
This weekend at Assen, he was able to count on a welcome double boost. First, from Takaaki Nakagami, a Honda test rider who came to coach him specially in the LCR box to support him throughout the weekend, and then from Aleix Espargaró on track. The Spaniard, also a Honda test rider and who came to replace Luca Marini during his convalescence, won the race in front. Chantra, which helped him a lot.
“I want to thank Aleix Espargaró. I rode many laps behind him and he tried to teach me things. I learned a lot. During the race I changed my riding style, my way of taking the apexes and the difference was quite significant. It’s really great because during practice, and also during qualifying, it’s difficult for me to follow a rider for one or two laps because they can be very fast. So staying behind Aleix in the race was great.”, Chantra explained to MotoGP.com.
“I’m very happy with my first point. Getting this first point in the MotoGP championship is very special. I gave everything to score points, and we finally did it. A big thank you to the team and Takaaki Nakagami for their work and support this weekend! Now we have to push hard to get more points.”
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Classification credit: MotoGP.com
