Pol Espargaró

He ended the season in 2nd place with 269 points.

Pol Espargaró Villà (born 10 June 1991) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer who for 2023 rode in the MotoGP class for the newly named GasGas Factory Racing team, a development of Tech3 using KTM machines, after which he will be a test rider within the KTM organisation.

He previously spent two years with Repsol Honda Team.

In 2007, Espargaró aimed to further enhance the family reputation over a full season with Campetella Racing Junior Aprilia.

The season start with two good results, a seventh in Qatar and fourth at Jerez, then a couple of Top 10s until the Catalan round where he finished fifth.

Espargaró's turning point came in the Czech Republic where he finished in sixth place, before a top five in San Marino.

The Portuguese race was the highlight point of his short career, claiming a third-place finish from seventh on the grid.

Espargaró battled for the lead with Héctor Faubel and Gábor Talmácsi, finishing just 0.2 seconds behind Faubel, who won.

After running last year on board an Aprilia RS125 in Belson Campetella, he switched the Aprilia for the Derbi, in this occasion an RSA and partnered by Joan Olivé.

He ended up 9th in the championship, with 3 podiums and 2 poles.

In 2011 he moved to Moto2 with the HP Tuenti Speed Up team with an FTR M211, obtaining second place in Indianapolis and third place in Malaysia and finishing the season in 13th place with 75 points.

He ended the season winning five consecutive races in Spanish 125cc Championship to become champion, followed by a 6th-place finish at the Valencian Grand Prix.

In 2012 he moved to the Pons 40 HP Tuenti team.

He Came third in Qatar.

He got his first win in the Moto2 class in Spain.

In Portugal he came second.

He won in Great Britain, He came second in Italy and Indianapolis and third in the Czech Republic after starting on all occasions from pole position.

In the San Marino Grand Prix he came second.

He Won in Aragon.

In Japan he came second after starting from pole position.

He Got pole position in Malaysia.

He Won in Australia after starting from pole position.

He Got another pole position in the Valencian grand Prix.

Pol is the younger brother of fellow MotoGP rider Aleix Espargaró, and is best known for winning the 2013 Moto2 World Championship.

Two months before, Espargaró had made history as a wildcard in the Catalan Grand Prix when he finished 13th to become the youngest ever point scorer in a Grand Prix at the age of just 15 years and 8 days.

In 2013 he remained in the same team, obtaining six wins (Qatar, Catalonia, Netherlands, San Marino, Australia and Japan), a second place in Malaysia, two third places (Germany and Aragon) and six pole positions (Qatar, Catalonia, countries Bassi, San Marino, Australia and the Valencian Community).

He became the world champion with 265 points.

In May 2013, rumours appeared linking Espargaró with the MotoGP Tech 3 satellite Yamaha racing team, to replace British rider Cal Crutchlow.

After Crutchlow signed a two-year deal with the factory Ducati team, Espargaró signed a two-year deal with Yamaha, the first year of which would be with Tech 3.

He got his first points in the premier class in the United States.

His best result was a fourth place in France and he ended the season in 6th place with 136 points, also achieving Rookie of The Year and Top Independent Rider.

Espargaró remained with Tech 3 into the season, finishing in ninth place in the final championship standings.

Espargaró again remained with Tech 3 into the season, he finished 8th in the standings with 134 points and his best finish of 4th came at the Dutch TT.

This earned him a move to Monster Yamaha Tech3 in 2014 but had 3 largely unsuccessful seasons failing to score a single podium.

He won the Suzuka 8 Hours in 2015 with Bradley Smith and Katsuyuki Nakasuga, and in 2016 with Nakasuga and Alex Lowes.

He is the first rider to finish on the podium riding a KTM motorcycle in MotoGP.

Born in Granollers, Barcelona, Espargaró, arrived in the 125cc World Championship in participating in the last six races of the year.

This rider from replaced the injured Andrea Iannone at Campetella Racing and made his debut on board a Derbi at the Czech Republic Grand Prix.

In 2015 he also won the Suzuka 8 Hours, alternating with Bradley Smith and Katsuyuki Nakasuga driving the Yamaha YZF-R1.

He thus becomes the second Spanish driver to win this race, after Carlos Checa.