Pol Espargaró

Pol Espargaró

Honours

Sporting career

Biography

Pol Espargaró was born on June 10th, 1991 in Granollers, Spain. His love of motorcycles began at the age of two, almost before he learnt to walk, and in 1997 he competed in his first race in Enduro.

He enjoyed success in roadracing almost immediately, and in 2000, at the age of 9, was crowned Catalan champion in the Conti Cup and Rieju Cup Supermotard champion. He would later become regional champion in 125cc in 2004 and Spanish champion in 2006.

His talent did not go unnoticed, and that same season he got his first chance to ride in the 125c World Championship, at his home track: The Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya. With a 13th place finish he became the youngest rider to score points in a 125c race on his debut, aged just 15 years and 8 days.
His first podium would come a season later, in 2007, at Estoril in Portugal. Race by race, he continued to develop as a rider, and in 2008 he would step onto the rostrum on three further occasions. In 2009, he earned his first Grand Prix victory, in Indianapolis, USA.

He was a contender for the title in 2010, the year in which he took three wins and another nine podiums, before making the move up to Moto2. After a season of adaptation in the intermediate class, in which he achieved 2 podiums, in 2012 he was runner-up in the overall standings -claiming 4 victories and finishing on the rostrum seven more times. A year later, in 2013, Espargaró won the Moto2 title thanks to six wins, a second place and three third places.

A debut in the premier class awaited, and in 2014 he stepped up to MotoGP -where he was Rookie of the Year and placed inside the Top 10 at every race in which he took the chequered flag. He maintained that same consistency in 2015, again finishing among the Top 10 in his 13 completed races. Although injuries hindered several of his seasons, he would take his first podium in 2018 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia.

During 2020, he would earn a career-best fifth place overall, and was a 5-time podium finisher. Now, at the age of 29 and in his sporting prime, Pol Espargaró joins the Repsol Honda Team for 2021, and together with Marc Márquez forms one of the most talented pairings on the MotoGP grid.

2021

First year as a Repsol Honda rider

In his first year with the team, Pol Espargaró made his debut with an eighth place in the Qatar GP. As the races went by, the rider from Granollers improved, feeling more comfortable with the Repsol Honda bike and having a good final stretch of the season. Pol achieved the best result of his career in the premier class at the Emilia-Romagna GP, taking second place. Unfortunately, he was unable to take part in the final round of the season in Valencia, after a crash in practice.

Espargaró ended his first season with the team in 12th place, with 100 points.