Alex Rins has returned to a MotoGP podium for the first time in 12 races after moving from P10 to second place.
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Rins made early strides before a long battle with teammate Joan Mir and the Ducatis of Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia ensued.
But when the Spaniard was through and in fourth place, a podium began when he caught up with both Espargaro brothers.
Rins soon overtook Pol Espargaro and finished third before Aleix made a mistake at turn five that let the Suzuki driver through.
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Rins couldn’t do anything about race winner Fabio Quartararo’s three plus two lead, but second place is a podium that is a long time coming this season due to its intermittent speed.
“Yes, I am super happy with this second place. I checked the world rankings and to be honest, in the first part of the championship we have a lot of zeros, a lot of falls,” added Rins.
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“But yes, in the end I said: ‘We have the level, we have the pace’ and now we’re back at the top.
“I’m super happy because starting from P10 is not easy. I tried to overtake as quickly as possible, you know. The whole team deserves this position and I think so too.”
“So we’re trying to keep that performance because I think we can get it (win).”
Rins’ podium could be the catalyst for much better final races as Aragon is next – a track that secured a win and P2 in 2020.
Rins said, “I think we can (keep the momentum going) but it’s not easy because our competitors, our rivals, are really strong.
“It’s true that we’ve had a very good race here in the last two years, a very good result last year in Aragon too; first and second in the two races, but everything changes this year.
“There are Yamaha, Ducati, Aprilia and Honda that are pretty strong. Let’s see if we can continue in this form.”