Friday, September 12, 2008

Bautista wins eventful Misano race

Spaniard Alvaro Bautista has won an eventful 250cc San Marino Grand Prix at Misano.

The Aspar Aprilia rider started down in eleventh place but thanks to a fine run through the field and several accidents involving other top rivals, he took victory ahead of JiR Honda's Yuki Takahashi and Toth Aprilia's Hector Barbera.

The latter, starting from pole position, did not win many hearts in the crowd today, as he controversially clashed with local runners Mattia Pasini and championship leader Marco Simoncelli.

The contact with the Polaris World Aprilia rider came during a fight for the lead on lap 12 of 26, with Barbera plunged on the inside of the Italian.

Pasini, who had taken the lead just two laps earlier, crashed out as a result and was visibly angry with his rival.

Simoncelli fought with Barbera and exchanged the lead with him for the first two thirds of the race, until Bautista took the lead.

The battle then continued for second place, with Barbera pushing Simoncelli briefly out of the track on lap 22, and the two losing the position to Takahashi.

With their battle continuing for third place, but still both in with a chance for victory, Barbera and Simoncelli exchanged position twice more in the following lap, and then the Italian got revenge over the Spaniard by giving him a slight push.

But when the score between the two looked settled, Simoncelli dropped his Metis Gilera on his own and even though he rejoined the track, he could do no better than sixth at the flag.

That meant that Roberto Locatelli took fourth on the other Gilera, ahead of Julian Simon's KTM.

It wasn't a good day for the Austrian manufacturer however, as Mika Kallio crashed into the back of teammate Hiroshi Aoyama on lap four, retiring them both on the spot.

That came just one lap after Alex Debon high-sided and Hector Faubel crashes into his fellow Spaniard's bike, ending the race for both Aprilia riders.

CLASSIFIED: Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 43:15.831 2. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 2.088 3. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 3.752 4. R.Locatelli Gilera + 7.472 5. Julian Simon KTM + 10.862 6. Marco Simoncelli Gilera + 21.180 7. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 29.440 8. R.Wilairot Honda + 33.882 9. Lukas Pesek Aprilia + 35.051 10. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 45.405 11. Fabrizio Lai Gilera + 47.260 12. Federico Sandi Aprilia +1:10.664 13. Manuel Hernandez Aprilia +1:10.882 14. Toni Wirsing Honda +1:33.332 15. S.G.Giorgi Gilera + 1 Lap 16. D.T.Pradita Yamaha + 1 Lap NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS: Rider Bike Laps Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 19 Eugene Laverty Aprilia 14 Imre Toth Aprilia 12 Mattia Pasini Aprilia 11 Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 3 Mika Kallio KTM 3 Hector Faubel Aprilia 2 Alex Debon Aprilia 2 Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1 FASTEST LAP: Simoncelli, 1:38.993 on lap 5

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