Puig: Pol Espargaro has been able to return to his true level

Following Pol Espargaro’s best MotoGP result for Repsol Honda, team manager Alberto Puig believes Silverstone was a turning point for the Spaniard. 

During Saturday’ Q2 session Espargaro secured an unexpected, yet stunning pole position before going on to claim fifth place. 

For much of the race Espargaro remained in with a shout of a first MotoGP podium with Honda, however, the 30 year-old slowly lost touch with Alex Rins, Aleix Espargaro and Jack Miller. 

Still, it’s by far Espargaro’s best result and weekend from a consistency point of view for the team, following back-to-back Austrian rounds without scoring points. 

"This weekend has been a very important turning point for Pol Espargaro. I think he has made a massive step compared to what he has been doing so far throughout 2021," said Puig.  

"I think that the way he approached the race was very good and he was able to show his potential, his real potential. 

"Pol is a rider who can be in these positions, so we hope from now on he can continue in this way and keep making progress. 

"We are very happy for him inside the team and HRC, it has been difficult for him, and he deserved this good result. 

"He was fantastic during qualifying to take pole position and although he was of course aiming for the podium in the race, he has been able to make an important step and return to his old form."

While there was success on Espargaro’s side of the garage, it was the complete opposite for Marc Marquez who crashed on lap one after taking down Jorge Martin. 

The pair made contact twice in the space of three corners - second of those proving to be the most costly as Marquez misjudged his speed after attempting to cut-back to the inside of his fellow Spaniard. 

Speaking about the positives and negatives of the weekend, Puig said: "The positive is that Pol Espargaro has been able to return to his true level, he has shown the reason that we asked him to join HRC. The negative is Marquez’s crash.

"We have seen Marquez stronger in these recent rounds. Unfortunately, Marc misjudged the overtake with Martin, it was not his intention, but they made contact during the opening lap and fell as a result. 

"We feel sorry for Martin and for his team. This is racing, these things can happen during the first lap when all the riders are together. 

"It’s a shame because Marc could have fought for the podium, maybe not victory, but of course for the podium."