Friday, October 31, 2008

Simoncelli wins in style at Valencia

Marco Simoncelli celebrated the 250cc title won seven days ago in style by taking a commanding victory - his sixth of the year - in the Valencia Grand Prix.

The Metis Gilera rider didn't have the best of starts from pole position and dropped to fifth, but made his way back up to first by lap nine when he overtook Red Bull KTM's Mika Kallio and never relinquished the lead again in the 27-lap race.

The Finn did his best to stay close to Simoncelli and snatch victory for his and the Austrian manufacturer's final race in the series - Kallio will move up to MotoGP with Alice Ducati while KTM announced their retirement from the 250cc class - but he crashed the bike on the last lap after having a couple of moments on previous laps.

Yuki Takahashi, who will also move up to the premier class with his current JiR Honda team, finished the race in a fine second place, five seconds behind Simoncelli, after managing to keep up with the two riders at the front for most of the race.

Aspar Aprilia's Alvaro Bautista took the last place on the podium, 3.5 seconds behind Takahashi, ahead of the other Metis Gilera of Roberto Locatelli, who ran as high as third in the first few laps after a good start from eighth.

Red Bull KTM's Hiroshi Aoyama finished the race in fifth, followed by the Aprilias of Hector Faubel (Aspar) and Aleix Espargaro (Lotus), and the Thai Honda of Ratthapark Wilairot.

This pack of riders was led by the Lotus Aprilia of Alex Debon until lap 22, when the Spaniard lost the front of his bike and crashed out from sixth place.

Julian Simon, who led the race in the early stages, saw his Repsol KTM breaking down on lap 20, just after being overtaken by Bautista for fourth place.

CLASSIFIED: Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 43:29.003 2. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 5.164 3. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia + 8.648 4. R.Locatelli Gilera + 15.605 5. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM + 20.991 6. Hector Faubel Aprilia + 22.212 7. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia + 23.199 8. R.Wilairot Honda + 23.321 9. Mattia Pasini Aprilia + 37.424 10. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 38.887 11. Mika Kallio KTM + 44.065 12. Alex Baldolini Aprilia +1:10.999 13. Imre Toth Aprilia +1:31.950 14. Daniel Arcas Aprilia +1:39.110 15. S.G.Giorgi Gilera +1:41.209 16. Manuel Hernandez Aprilia + 1 Lap 17. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 1 Lap 18. Federico Sandi Aprilia + 1 Lap 19. D.T.Pradita Yamaha + 1 Lap NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS: Rider Bike Laps Alen Gyorfi Aprilia 24 Alex Debon Aprilia 21 Julian Simon KTM 19 Fabrizio Lai Gilera 12 Lukas Pesek Aprilia 11 Toni Wirsing Honda 11 FASTEST LAP: Kallio, 1:35.890 on lap 24

  • Simoncelli holds on to take win
  • Crew showcasing road quality
  • Simoncelli wins battle for victory
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