Pol Espargaro produced a mature and inspired ride to finish in 6th position in his first encounter of the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli aboard his Yamaha YZR-M1. The young Spaniard started round 13 of the MotoGP World Championship in a highly impressive manner by surging to 2nd position in the warm up, having just been beaten to the top spot in the dying seconds by Valentino Rossi. This left the rookie highly optimistic and ready for the 28 lap battle at the 4226 meter circuit which he began from 7th on the grid. As the lights flicked to green, Espargaro launched off the start line with promising speed and he completed the first lap in 6th position before setting his fastest time of the race on his 2nd lap. Right from the beginning of the 28 lap race, the Spanish rookie was able to build up a gap over the pack and with the lap numbers falling, Espargaro managed to maintain this placement until the finish flag. His capture of more valuable championship points lifts him back up to 6th in the standings after another impressive ride in his debut season in MotoGP.

On the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 garage, Bradley Smith battled in the highly competitive field to finish in 7th position after a gruelling yet rewarding race at Misano. The young British rider started the day by beginning the race from 9th on the grid in ideal weather conditions at the San Marino circuit. Smith completed the first lap in 8th place, as he aimed to ascend up the field and make ground on the factory bikes. Unfortunately, the British star made a slight mistake going into turn seven on lap two, which caused him to slip back two positions. Yet, the 23 year old illustrated his determination to aggressively fight back to 8th only three laps later and proceeded to set his fastest time of the race on lap 8 whilst he intended to make ground on the rider in front. Smith’s consistency and seamless performance saw him catching up a further position before the fall of the finish flag. It was a positive result after the previous two rounds which gives him a boost of confidence before he heads to Aragon in two weeks time.

Pol Espargaro - Position : 6th - Championship : 6th Points : 98

"To be honest I can't help but be slightly disappointed, although not about the result itself but about how the race went as I truly expected to be more competitive. With two dry sessions less than usual, we went into the unknown a bit and for sure the warmer temperatures were not ideal for the setup which we decided on. We chose to race the softer Bridgestone tyre and it would have probably been better to go for the harder compound considering the conditions this afternoon, but after the race it is easy to say so. However, we still managed to finish the race in 6th position and collect valuable points for the Championship which helped me to take 6th back from my brother and that is a really good feeling ahead of our next race in Aragon."

Bradley Smith - Position : 7th Championship : 10th Points : 74

"Even though 7th is not where I intend to be, it’s definitely positive after the challenging past two Grand Prix’s. Still, I am a little disappointed with the mistake I made on the 2nd lap as I went into turn 7 where I just out braked myself and lost two places. Later on, I recovered these positions, but the group of Pedrosa, the two Ducati’s and Pol were out of my reach plus with the lap times so close here it was difficult to come back. I tried to catch Pol but then I realised I wasn’t going to be able to get on the back of him, so instead of risking my point scoring position, I played it safe so that I could learn as much as possible and gather important data which we will use in Aragon. Considering how tough the weekend was here last year, the performance this time is a significant improvement but I want to be fighting for 5th. Therefore, there’s some more work to be done, but the team did a great job after a tricky Friday and now we will push onwards to close in on the Ducati’s."

Hervé Poncharal - Team manager :

"It was as if somebody wrote the script for today, with the first Yamaha win of the season happening in Misano by Rossi is something that everyone has dreamed of and I want to congratulate Yamaha for the brilliant job they did. Regarding the performances of our two riders, I am happy with what we achieved today. At the moment, this is where we are at even if we were all hoping that both Pol and Bradley could have been fighting with the Ducati’s of Dovizioso and Iannone today. However we have to admit that they have been slightly quicker than us this weekend. The boys did the best they could and I want to thank both Pol and Bradley for trying so hard after bringing the bikes home and collecting some really strong points for themselves and the team in the championship. This weekend we have once more collected precious experience and the guys always have to work really hard to get close to the level of Lorenzo and Rossi. Yet, we need to keep fighting and trying to assist our young riders in their learning process in the best possible way. The race event for us was not hugely exciting this weekend, but we leave knowing that we have done our best and that we did a solid job. Next we will head to Aragon to try to challenge for even higher positions."

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