Monday, October 13, 2008

Simoncelli holds on to take win

Marco Simoncelli moved a step closer to the 250cc title with victory over Alvaro Bautista in the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

Simoncelli won after a near race-long battle between the pair, which always looked likely to end in Simoncelli's favour, as Simoncelli quickly replied every time Bautista was able to take the lead, the two riders coming close to contact more than once.

The win extends Simoncelli's lead over Bautista to 37 points, with Mika Kallio the only other rider (just) still in contention with two rounds and 50 points remaining.

A similar battle to the battle for the win was fought for third position, Kallio winning the slipstream battle to the chequered flag to beat Julian Simon by 0.028 seconds to reclaim the final podium position, the pair almost fifteen seconds behind Simoncelli at the finish.

Another ten seconds further back Alex Debon won the battle for fifth place, edging out Roberto Locatelli and Yuki Takahashi by less than two-tenths of a second.

CLASSIFIED: Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 39:02.553 2. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia + 0.223 3. Mika Kallio KTM + 14.450 4. Julian Simon KTM + 14.478 5. Alex Debon Aprilia + 26.226 6. Roberto Locatelli Gilera + 26.392 7. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 26.434 8. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia + 40.546 9. Ratthapark Wilairot Honda +1:00.219 10. Fabrizio Lai Gilera +1:20.825 11. Karel Abraham Aprilia +1:22.802 12. Alex Baldolini Aprilia +1:22.864 13. Imre Toth Aprilia +1:23.995 14. Lukas Pesek Aprilia +1:39.740 15. Simone Grotzkyj Gilera + 1 lap 16. Daniel Arcas Aprilia + 1 lap 17. Doni Tata Pradita Yamaha + 1 lap NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS: Rider Bike Laps Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 15 Mattia Pasini Aprilia 15 Hector Faubel Aprilia 4 Federico Sandi Aprilia 1 Manuel Hernandez Aprilia 1

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