Pol Espargaró

Pol Espargaró Villà (born 10 June 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. He is the first rider to finish on the podium riding a KTM motorcycle in MotoGP.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Espargaró and the second or maternal family name is Villà.

Pol Espargaró
Espargaró at the 2014 Grand Prix of the Americas
Nationality	Spanish
Born	(1991-06-10) 10 June 1991 Granollers, Spain
Current team	KTM
Bike number	44
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2014– Manufacturers Yamaha, KTM Championships 0 2019 championship position 11th (100 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 105 0 1 0 0 600 Moto2 World Championship Active years 2011–2013 Manufacturers FTR, Kalex Championships 1 (2013) 2013 championship position 1st (265 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 51 10 23 14 10 609 125cc World Championship Active years 2006–2010 Manufacturers Derbi, Aprilia Championships 0 2010 championship position 3rd (281 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 71 5 21 3 5 708.5

Career

125cc World Championship (2006–2010)

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 10s 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 (2008–2010)

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 (2011–2013)

Espargaró won the 2013 Moto2 championship.

MotoGP World Championship (2014–Present)

Tech 3 (2014–2016)

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 (2017–present)

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

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

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
			RACC Derbi	92
2007	125cc	Aprilia	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	Derbi Tuenti Racing	44	17	3	12	0	3	281	3rd
2011	Moto2	FTR	HP Tuenti Speed Up	44	17	0	2	0	1	75	13th
2012	Moto2	Kalex	Pons 40 HP Tuenti	40	17	4	11	8	5	269	2nd
2013	Moto2	Kalex	Tuenti HP 40	40	17	6	10	6	4	265	1st
2014	MotoGP	Yamaha	Monster Yamaha Tech3	44	18	0	0	0	0	136	6th
2015	MotoGP	Yamaha	Monster Yamaha Tech3	44	18	0	0	0	0	114	9th
2016	MotoGP	Yamaha	Monster Yamaha Tech3	44	17	0	0	0	0	134	8th
2017	MotoGP	KTM	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	44	18	0	0	0	0	55	17th
2018	MotoGP	KTM	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	44	15	0	1	0	0	51	14th
2019	MotoGP	KTM	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	44	18	0	0	0	0	100	11th
2020	MotoGP	KTM	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	44	1	0	0	0	0	10*	6th*
Total					227	15	45	17	15	1917.5

By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
125cc	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–present	2014 Qatar	2018 Valencia		105	0	1	0	0	600	0
Total	2006–Present				227	15	45	17	15	1917.5	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	19	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 Ret	GBR 11	RSM 11	ARA 10	JPN 11	AUS 9	MAL 10	VAL Ret		17th	55
2018	MotoGP	KTM	QAT Ret	ARG 11	AME 13	SPA 11	FRA 11	ITA 11	CAT 11	NED 12	GER Ret	CZE DNS	AUT	GBR	RSM Ret	ARA DNS	THA 21	JPN 13	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	VAL 3	14th	51
2019	MotoGP	KTM	QAT 12	ARG 10	AME 8	SPA 13	FRA 6	ITA 9	CAT 7	NED 11	GER 12	CZE 11	AUT Ret	GBR 9	RSM 7	ARA DNS	THA 13	JPN 11	AUS 12	MAL 11	VAL 10	11th	100
2020	MotoGP	KTM	SPA 6	AND 7	CZE Ret	AUT	STY	RSM	EMR	CAT	FRA	ARA	TER	EUR	VAL	THA	MAL	ARG				11th*	19*

^* 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

1. O'Leary, Jamie (27 October 2013). "Scott Redding crashes, Pol Espargaro takes title". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
2. "Espargaro wins to claim Moto2 world title". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 27 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
3. "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.
4. "Faubel wins a thriller". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 16 September 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
5. Farni, Azi (2 August 2013). "Pol Espargaro to ride for Tech 3 after Yamaha deal". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
6. "Final 2015 MotoGP rider line-up". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
7. "Yamaha Announces Continuation of Contract with Pol Espargaró for 2016". Yamaha-racing.com. Yamaha Motor Europe. 7 August 2015. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
8. "Pol Espargaro to join KTM's MotoGP efforts". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.

External links

• Pol Espargaró Profile at Yahoo! Sport

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