Pol Espargaro breaks collar bone in final day of testing

MotoGP rookie Pol Espargaro crashed on the final day of MotoGP pre season testing, breaking his left collar bone with less than two weeks until the first race of the season.

The reigning Moto2 World Champion was second quickest in Qatar, just 0.033 behind his older brother when he crashed on the turn six left hander. The 22 year-old was just two laps short of completing his race simulation, when he was going down the gearbox when he accidentally selected neutral when attempting to select first. He ran into the gravel trap before eventually crashing on his left hand side.

Despite the crash the Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider is still upbeat about his chances about making the race in Qatar.

“We can be happy with the job we did today as we made some very good steps forward. At the early stages of the session we found a better setting which allowed me to improve my time with the new tyres, and I could lower me lap time quite a lot,” he said.

“Also, the rhythm I had during the race simulation was much better than yesterday. 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.”

Espargaro will undergo surgery on his broken left collarbone on Monday in Barcelona as he attempts to be ready for the season opener on the 23rd of March.