MotoGp - Race - Pol Espargaro wins battle for 12th place at Assen with second closest finish to the top

RACE 8th Rd. #MotoGP 2018, TT Circuit #assen (NED)

Sunny, blustery and warm conditions at the historic TT Circuit #assen was the stage for #polespargaro to pick up 4 points for 12th position at what was the eighth round of nineteen in 2018 #MotoGP.

MotoGP
A 26 lap extravaganza of intense #racing, overtaking and close-calls again demonstrated why #MotoGP is one of the most watchable sports in the world. Red Bull KTM played their part in the middle of the premier class pack with #polespargaro emerging triumphant from a duel with the factory Aprilias and obtaining 12th position on the KTM RC16 for his seventh consecutive points-scoring performance.

The Spaniard crossed the finish line fractions of a second ahead of his brother Aleix, Scott Redding and factory Honda rider Dani Pedrosa for a strong culmination to a weekend that saw both some technical progress but also some frustration through the fast kinks and elongated corners of the Dutch layout. Overall #44 was less than sixteen seconds from race winner Marc Marquez.

Bradley Smith missed the points with his 17th position. The Brit, who boasts two podium finishes at #assen in two different categories, had to drop his speed due to a problematic rear tyre that affected his grip.

Espargaro: “I think I prefer a 12th place like we managed today than a thousand P11s! I think we deserved this position and we were in front of a lot of #people as well as being just fifteen seconds from the top. We are not missing that much anymore and it is good to finish the race like this and with the feeling you have done a good job. We need to work on making one good fast lap in qualifying because we cannot take profit enough of a new tyre…but we can make some improvements during the race. It is now easier to ride this bike compared to last year. We couldn't do more than 12th here but we’re happy with that. It was a busy and fun race.”

Smith: “The first half of the race was good and I was in the same group as Pol but then something strange happened with my rear tyre and we hadn’t experienced anything like that all weekend. I had the same tyres as Pol we ended up pretty much on the canvas, so something went amiss there and we have to analyse everything. My tyre just fell off the earth and even in a straight line it was spinning. A frustrating way to end the race but these things happen. When the tyre was there I was competitive and fighting for points. I’ll just have to accept that today wasn't my day.”

Mike Leitner (Team Manager MotoGP): “Even though it doesn't look like it on paper I think this was one of our better races of the year because we looked good in FP3, FP4, Warm-Up and then the race proved our form. Unfortunately we could show our potential in Q1 with a lap-time, and this is why we started far back on the grid and it did not help us for the race result. If Pol could have started further towards the middle of the field, like usual, then we might have been able to gain one or two positions more. But we should be happy because we made some small steps with our package that seems to have worked. We have to fight for each position and it is tight and tough but 2018 has shown that we have settled in the middle of this 24-rider grid as a stable competitor and everybody at KTM should be proud of that. We’ll keep pushing and working to make the top ten consistently.”

Moto2
Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder took their Red Bull KTM Ajo’s KTM Moto2 machines to 6th and 7th positions in the 24-lap Moto2 dash. Swiss Innovative Investors’ Sam Lowes was also in the top ten with 9th place. Oliveira lost a little ground to series leader and Grand Prix winner Francesco Bagnaia and the gap between the pair at the peak of the Moto2 standings is now 16 points.

Aki Ajo (Team Manager Moto2): "This has been a tricky weekend for all our Moto2 team. We have to be very happy with the final results in the race: The sixth position from Miguel (Oliveira) and seventh for Brad (Binder). Despite this and the great work done by the entire team throughout the weekend, we have not yet been able to perform at our best in practice. We have to find the key to achieving better positions on the grid. If we do that, we will not have to risk so much in the race. We'll see in Germany if we can find the solution."

Moto3
KTM placed in the top five of a typically chaotic and gripping Moto3 affair thanks to Bester Capital Dubai’s Jaume Masia and Redox PruestelGP’s Jakub Kornfeil finishing in 4th and 5th on the KTM RC250 GP respectively. Red Bull KTM Ajo's Darryn Binder ended the race on 7th place which was also the best finsih for the younger brother of Brad Binder. Sadly Kornfeil’s teammate and championship contender, Marco Bezzecchi, crashed out of the podium fight on the last lap. The Italian trails Jorge Martin by just 2 points.

D. Binder: "The bike has worked well all weekend. I was just struggling to be consistent and fast for several consecutive laps. I knew that when I started the race I could have a good pace, so when the lights went out I tried to gain as many places as possible. I enjoyed a good fight; I was in the group that finally peaked for fifth place, and in the end I managed to finish seventh. I felt strong today. If at the next few GPs we can find a better pace on Friday and improve our result in Saturday qualifying, then I’m sure that we can fight for the top positions on Sundays."

Red Bull #MotoGP Rookies Cup
Emerging in front after an incredible opening few laps at #assen, Can Öncü then put in another perfect performance to match his dominant Saturday victory. The 14-year-old Turk has stretched his Red Bull #MotoGP Rookies Cup points advantage to an impressive 49 after 5 of 12 races. The chasing pack of KTM RC250 RBs provided plenty of entertainment with 16-year-old Czech Filip Salač making a very strong run into second after finishing fifth on Saturday and holding off Xavier Artigas, the 15-year old Spaniard, who had the runner up spot 23 hours before.

C. Öncü: “I am very happy about the race. Not just because I won but because I managed to control the race the way I needed to. I made another good start but I wasn't aggressive enough at the first corner and two riders got past me then. A few corners later I think it was Yamanaka who banged my rear brake and the back tyre slid out. After that I could feel that the rear brake was very hard so I was playing with it a little down the straight and adjusting it to make it softer, it seemed to work. So in the first few laps there was a lot of passing but then I concentrated on getting in front and pushed to get a lead. I managed to open up a gap and then I could control that so I'm very happy. I want to thank everyone around me as well as all the fans, especially Francesc Julià and the other technical staff who work so hard to give me a great bike.”