Aleix Espargaro credited as a MotoGP rider scores his first point

Somkiat Chantra made history by becoming the first Thai rider to score a MotoGP point, courtesy of 15th place in Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix at Assen.

The LCR Honda rookie had finished 19th and last in Saturday’s Sprint but capitalised on race-day accidents and valuable lessons behind Aleix Espargaro to secure the final point.

Espargaro, riding in place of the injured Luca Marini for HRC, was battling chatter issues and gradually slipped towards the rear of the field.

From lap 7 onwards, he and Chantra circulated together, with the Thai rider using the opportunity to learn.

“We had a lot of vibrations throughout the whole race, and I was running wide a lot,” said Espargaro. “I had to focus on finishing the race.”

Chantra tailed the former MotoGP race winner until three laps from the end, when he made a pass and held on to take the chequered flag just ahead of the #41 Honda.

“I’m really happy for the first point,” said Chantra.

“I want to say thank you also to Aleix because during the race I was behind him for many laps and also he tried to teach me a lot when I was behind him.

“I was able to learn many things and during the race, I changed my riding style and braking point. It was quite a big difference.

“During practice and qualifying it was quite difficult to follow other riders because they can do one or two laps very fast. But during the race, I could stay behind Aleix and it was very nice to learn.

“Also thank you to the team for helping me and pushing really hard. And finally, we did it - one point. After this, we have to push more and try hard to get more points.”

Aleix Espargaro's verdict on Somkiat Chantra breakthrough

Espargaro was pleased to see the rookie benefit. “At least something positive!” Espargaro smiled.

“I had a nightmare race, with a lot of vibration.

"On the last split he went a bit wide in corner 12, but I saw that he was P15, so I’m happy that he had a point.

“Somkiat is not having a good time in MotoGP. And MotoGP is very tough. He's also not on an easy bike to start his career.

“For the young riders coming from Moto2, it’s very difficult in the first season, so hopefully Somkiat can start to improve a little bit.”

Chantra is the last of this year’s three rookies to score a point, with Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati) on 81 and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) on 49.