Pol Espargaro finishes as top satellite rider

MotoGP rookie Pol Espargaro clinched an impressive fifth place in the Indianapolis MotoGP as the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider finished behind the top four Repsol Honda and factory Yamaha machines.

Espargaro attempted to stay with Dani Pedrosa when the Honda rider came past but was unable to hang on to the rear of the works RC213V.

"I'm reasonably happy, as it has been a good race but not an incredible one," said Espargaro. "We collected important points for the championship, I learned a lot as well today and we definitely gave our best so I have to be satisfied with the result.

"In addition, having just the four factory bikes in front of me I can't complain too much," he added. "My start was ok and at the beginning I tried everything to stay with Dani, but during the opening laps he was really strong and escaped quite quickly."

Espargaro reeled in Andrea Dovizioso on the factory Ducati and once he forced his way past, the 23-year-old was able to pull away to seal fifth.

"My race was a very lonely one until I caught Dovizioso, then I tried to push a bit harder to open a gap to him and later on I just tried to not to make any mistakes," he said.

"Indy has been a good start to the second part of the championship but I'm already looking forward to Brno next week where I aim to improve further."