Monster Yamaha Tech3’s MotoGP™ rookie Pol Espargaro crashed with just two laps to go in a Qatar race simulation, breaking his left collarbone just two weeks before his first premier class Grand Prix.

After an otherwise solid preseason – he was second quickest on Sunday and just 0.033s off his brother Aleix’s best time of the test – the Moto2™ World Champion now flies home to Barcelona and will go straight to the operating theatre for surgery in Spain.

The hope is that he will be able to race at round one in a fortnight’s time, with his fitness to be assessed as he recovers from the turn 6 crash. The Tech3 Spaniard was only two laps away from wrapping up his winter preparations so the injury is a stroke of bad luck.

“We can be happy with the job we did today as we made some very good steps forward,” stated the rider, keeping a positive spin on the situation. “Of course, the crash at the end of the session was a bit unlucky. I made a mistake whilst changing down the gears going into the corner, which meant I had to go straight ahead and then crashed in the gravel. I am still very confident and positive about the test and I will be back here in two weeks ready to race“.

His boss Herve Poncharal, the Tech3 team owner, added,

“Pol needed to adapt as quickly as possible to the bike, and he still has a long way to go, but I’m sure he will give us great pleasure during the season and surprise us at some races. Of course he has been unlucky to crash in such an unfortunate way and hurt himself, but with the determination he has shown so far there is no doubt that he will be back here for the race and ready to give his all.”



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