Pol Espargaro and Repsol Honda Team forge ahead to Valencia season finale
The Repsol Honda Team and Pol Espargaro aim to end his season on a high with Marc Marquez recovering at home.
Round 18 marks the end of the 2021 MotoGP World Championship campaign which started in Qatar in late March. During the season the Repsol Honda Team have taken three wins, two additional podiums and a pole position. Pol Espargaro is aiming to add to this tally at one of his favourite tracks on the calendar.
The 30-year-old scored his debut premier class podium in Valencia back in 2018 and in 2020, he took a pole position and two thirds at the track. Having taken four top-ten finishes in a row, the #44 arrives at the track in fine form and determined to go into the off season with another strong result. On 100 points, Espargaro sits tenth overall in the championship standings but with his brother, Aleix Espargaro, just 13 points ahead, there are still gains to be made at the final race.
On Tuesday it was announced that Marc Marquez will miss both the Valencia Grand Prix and the Jerez Test due to diplopia after a training crash.
Pol Espargaro
“First I want to wish Marc all the best during this difficult time and I hope he can recover soon and well. His absence will of course be felt at the track, but we arrive in Valencia still motivated to do our job the best we can. It’s a circuit that I really enjoy a lot, I achieved my first MotoGP podium there in 2018 and I think we can do well there this year. The circuit is very cold at this time of year and this is good for us. It’s the last race, I want to continue the speed from the last races to end well before 2022 begins in Jerez.”
Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
|---|
Location Information
The Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana was completed in 1999 and held rounds of the MotoGP and Spanish Motorcycle Championships in the same year. The Cheste track has several layouts, running anti-clockwise with varying lengths. MotoGP events are held on a 4km track comprising of five right handed corners, eight… read more.
| Length | 4.005 kilometres / 2.489 miles |
| Width | 12 metres |
| Left corners | 9 |
| Right corners | 5 |
| Longest straight | 0.876 kilometres / 0.544 miles |
| Constructed | 1999 |
Circuito de la Comunidad Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, Cheste, Spain - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 1m 28.931s (162.1km/h) Maverick Viñales (Aprilia, 2023) |
| Race Lap | 1m 30.145s (159.9km/h) Brad Binder (KTM, 2023) |
| 2023 Race Winner | Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) |
| 2023 Sprint Winner | Jorge Martin (Ducati) |
