Pol Espargaró

Pol Espargaró Villà (born June 10, 1991) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer who currently rides in the MotoGP class for the KTM factory team. Pol is the younger brother of Aleix Espargaró, and is best known for winning the 2013 Moto2 World Championship.^[1]^[2] He won the Suzuka 8 Hours in 2015 with Bradley Smith and Katsuyuki Nakasuga, and in 2016 with Nakasuga and Alex Lowes.

Career

125cc World Championship (2006–10)

Youngest rider to score a championship point (2006)

Born in Granollers, Barcelona, Espargaró, arrived in the 125cc World Championship in 2006 participating in the last six races of the year. This promising rider from Barcelona replaced the injured Italian Andrea Iannone at Campetella Racing and made his debut with the Italian team on board a Derbi at the Czech Republic Grand Prix. Two months before, Espargaró had made history as a wildcard in the Catalan Grand Prix when he finished 13th to become the youngest ever point scorer in a Grand Prix at the age of just 15 years and 8 days. His end of season run-in was spectacular, winning five consecutive races in Spanish 125cc Championship to become champion, followed by a 6th placed finish at the Valencian Grand Prix.

First podium (2007)

In 2007, Espargaró aimed to further enhance the family reputation over a full season with Campetella Racing Junior Aprilia. The season start with two good results, a seventh in Qatar and fourth at Jerez, then a couple of Top 10's until the Catalan round where he finished fifth. Espargaró's turning point came in the Czech Republic where he finished in sixth place, before a top five in San Marino. The Portuguese race was the highlight point of his short career, claiming a third place finish from seventh on the grid. Espargaró battled for the lead with Héctor Faubel and Gábor Talmácsi, finishing just 0.2 seconds behind Faubel, who won.^[3]^[4]

Return to Derbi (2008–10)

Espargaró at the 2010 Dutch TT

Espargaró (left) at the 2010 Australian Grand Prix.

After running last year on board an Aprilia RS125 in Belson Campetella, he switched the Aprilia for the Derbi, in this occasion an RSA and partnered by Joan Olivé. He ended up 9th in the championship, with 3 podiums and 2 poles.

Moto2 World Championship (2011–13)

Espargaró won the 2013 Moto2 championship.

MotoGP World Championship (2014–present)

Tech 3 (2014–16)

Espargaró at the 2014 French Grand Prix

In May 2013, rumours appeared linking Espargaró with the MotoGP Tech 3 satellite Yamaha racing team, to replace British rider Cal Crutchlow. After Crutchlow signed a two-year deal with the factory Ducati team, Espargaró signed a two-year deal with Yamaha, the first year of which would be with Tech 3.^[5] Espargaró remained with Tech 3 into the 2015 season,^[6] finishing in ninth place in the final championship standings. Espargaró again remained with Tech 3 into the 2016 season,^[7] and currently lies eighth in the championship standings.

KTM

Prior to the 2016 Catalan Grand Prix, it was announced that Espargaró would join the factory-supported KTM team for the 2017 season.^[8] He will partner Bradley Smith in the team, with both riders moving across from the Tech 3 outfit.

Career statistics

By season

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Team	Number	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
2006	125cc	Derbi	Campetella Racing Junior	42	7	0	0	0	0	19	20th
2006	125cc	Derbi	RACC Derbi	92	7	0	0	0	0	19	20th
2007	125cc	Aprilia RS125R	Belson Campetella Racing	44	17	0	1	0	0	110	9th
2008	125cc	Derbi	Belson Derbi	44	14	0	3	2	1	124	9th
2009	125cc	Derbi	Derbi Racing Team	44	16	2	5	1	1	174.5	4th
2010	125cc	Derbi	Tuenti Racing	44	17	3	12	0	3	281	3rd
2011	Moto2	FTR-Honda	HP Tuenti Speed Up	44	17	0	2	0	1	75	13th
2012	Moto2	Kalex-Honda	Pons HPTuenti40	40	17	4	11	8	5	269	2nd
2013	Moto2	Kalex-Honda	Pons HPTuenti40	40	17	6	10	6	4	265	1st
2014	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Monster Yamaha Tech3	44	18	0	0	0	0	136	6th
2015	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Monster Yamaha Tech3	44	18	0	0	0	0	114	9th
2016	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Monster Yamaha Tech3	44	17	0	0	0	0	134	8th
2017	MotoGP	KTM RC16	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	44	10	0	0	0	0	21*	19th
Total					185	15	44	17	15	1722.5

* Season still in progress.

By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
125 cc	2006–2010	2006 Catalunya	2007 Portugal	2009 Indianapolis	71	5	21	3	5	708.5	0
Moto2	2011–2013	2011 Qatar	2011 Indianapolis	2012 Spain	51	10	23	14	10	609	1
MotoGP	2014–2017	2014 Qatar			64	0	0	0	0	405	0
Total	2006–Present				185	15	44	17	15	1722.5	1

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Pts
2006	125cc	Derbi	SPA	QAT	TUR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT 13	NED	GBR	GER	CZE Ret	MAL 14	AUS 16	JPN 19	POR 12	VAL 6			20th	19
2007	125cc	Aprilia	QAT 7	SPA 4	TUR 11	CHN 9	FRA 11	ITA 9	CAT 5	GBR Ret	NED 11	GER Ret	CZE 6	RSM 5	POR 3	JPN Ret	AUS 11	MAL Ret	VAL 10		9th	110
2008	125cc	Derbi	QAT 8	SPA 14	POR 13	CHN 4	FRA 4	ITA 3	CAT 2	GBR DNS	NED	GER 16	CZE 8	RSM Ret	IND 2	JPN Ret	AUS 5	MAL 6	VAL DNS		9th	124
2009	125cc	Derbi	QAT 4	JPN 3	SPA 7	FRA Ret	ITA 4	CAT Ret	NED 9	GER 5	GBR 10	CZE 5	IND 1	RSM Ret	POR 1	AUS 4	MAL 3	VAL 3			4th	174.5
2010	125cc	Derbi	QAT 4	SPA 1	FRA 1	ITA 3	GBR 2	NED 3	CAT 3	GER Ret	CZE 2	IND 3	RSM 6	ARA 1	JPN 4	MAL 2	AUS 2	POR 10	VAL 2		3rd	281
2011	Moto2	FTR	QAT 22	SPA 20	POR 6	FRA 13	CAT 16	GBR Ret	NED Ret	ITA 28	GER 13	CZE 16	IND 2	RSM 9	ARA 14	JPN 15	AUS 5	MAL 3	VAL 14		13th	75
2012	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 3	SPA 1	POR 2	FRA 6	CAT Ret	GBR 1	NED Ret	GER 4	ITA 2	IND 2	CZE 3	RSM 2	ARA 1	JPN 2	MAL 10	AUS 1	VAL 8		2nd	269
2013	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 1	AME Ret	SPA 3	FRA 19	ITA 4	CAT 1	NED 1	GER 3	IND 4	CZE 4	GBR 8	RSM 1	ARA 3	MAL 2	AUS 1	JPN 1	VAL 29		1st	265
2014	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT Ret	AME 6	ARG 8	SPA 9	FRA 4	ITA 5	CAT 7	NED Ret	GER 7	IND 5	CZE Ret	GBR 6	RSM 6	ARA 6	JPN 8	AUS Ret	MAL 6	VAL 6	6th	136
2015	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 9	AME Ret	ARG 8	SPA 5	FRA 7	ITA 6	CAT Ret	NED 5	GER 8	IND 7	CZE 8	GBR Ret	RSM Ret	ARA 9	JPN Ret	AUS 8	MAL 9	VAL 5	9th	114
2016	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 7	ARG 6	AME 7	SPA 8	FRA 5	ITA 15	CAT 5	NED 4	GER Ret	AUT 10	CZE 13	GBR DNS	RSM 9	ARA 8	JPN 6	AUS 5	MAL 9	VAL 6	8th	134
2017	MotoGP	KTM	QAT 16	ARG 14	AME Ret	SPA Ret	FRA 12	ITA Ret	CAT 18	NED 11	GER 13	CZE 9	AUT	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	19th*	21*

* Season still in progress.

Suzuka 8 Hours results

Year	Team	Co-Riders	Bike	Pos.
2015	Yamaha Factory Racing Team	Katsuyuki Nakasuga Bradley Smith	Yamaha YZF-R1	1st
2016	Yamaha Factory Racing Team	Katsuyuki Nakasuga Alex Lowes	Yamaha YZF-R1	1st

References

↑ O'Leary, Jamie (27 October 2013). "Scott Redding crashes, Pol Espargaro takes title". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
↑ "Espargaro wins to claim Moto2 world title". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 27 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
↑ "Rossi Sets Pulses Racing in Estoril Thriller". superbike-news.co.uk. 16 September 2007. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
↑ "Faubel wins a thriller". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 16 September 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
↑ Farni, Azi (2 August 2013). "Pol Espargaro to ride for Tech 3 after Yamaha deal". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
↑ "Final 2015 MotoGP rider line-up". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
↑ "Yamaha Announces Continuation of Contract with Pol Espargaró for 2016". Yamaha-racing.com. Yamaha Motor Europe. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
↑ "Pol Espargaro to join KTM's MotoGP efforts". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pol Espargaró.

Pol Espargaró Profile at Yahoo! Sport

Sporting positions
Preceded by Mateo Túnez	Spanish 125cc Champion 2006	Succeeded by Stefan Bradl
Preceded by Marc Márquez	Moto2 World Champion 2013	Succeeded by Esteve Rabat
Preceded by Leon Haslam Takumi Takahashi Michael van der Mark	Suzuka 8 Hours Winner 2015, 2016 With: Katsuyuki Nakasuga (2015, 2016) Bradley Smith (2015) Alex Lowes (2016)	Succeeded by Incumbent

250cc/Moto2 Motorcycle World Champions

1949 – B. Ruffo

1950 – D. Ambrosini
1951 – B. Ruffo
1952 – E. Lorenzetti
1953 – W. Haas
1954 – W. Haas
1955 – H. Müller
1956 – C. Ubbiali
1957 – C. Sandford
1958 – T. Provini
1959 – C. Ubbiali

1960 – C. Ubbiali
1961 – M. Hailwood
1962 – J. Redman
1963 – J. Redman
1964 – P. Read
1965 – P. Read
1966 – M. Hailwood
1967 – M. Hailwood
1968 – P. Read
1969 – K. Carruthers

1970 – R. Gould
1971 – P. Read
1972 – J. Saarinen
1973 – D. Braun
1974 – W. Villa
1975 – W. Villa
1976 – W. Villa
1977 – M. Lega
1978 – K. Ballington
1979 – K. Ballington

1980 – A. Mang
1981 – A. Mang
1982 – J. Tournadre
1983 – C. Lavado
1984 – C. Sarron
1985 – F. Spencer
1986 – C. Lavado
1987 – A. Mang
1988 – S. Pons
1989 – S. Pons

1990 – J. Kocinski
1991 – L. Cadalora
1992 – L. Cadalora
1993 – T. Harada
1994 – M. Biaggi
1995 – M. Biaggi
1996 – M. Biaggi
1997 – M. Biaggi
1998 – L. Capirossi
1999 – V. Rossi

2000 – O. Jacque
2001 – D. Kato
2002 – M. Melandri
2003 – M. Poggiali
2004 – D. Pedrosa
2005 – D. Pedrosa
2006 – J. Lorenzo
2007 – J. Lorenzo
2008 – M. Simoncelli
2009 – H. Aoyama

2010 – T. Elías
2011 – S. Bradl
2012 – M. Márquez
2013 – P. Espargaró
2014 – E. Rabat
2015 – J. Zarco
2016 – J. Zarco

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