MotoGP – The German Grand Prix 250 lap by lap –

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The German Grand Prix 250 lap by lap

MotoGP - The German Grand Prix 250 lap by lap -

Ultra tight, the 250 championship could see its hierarchy evolve: Simoncelli appears in great shape, Bautista applied and Kallio injured! With the addition of a Barbera who plays surprise guests, anything can happen at the Sachsenring ! Round by round.

The four strong men of the championship arrive on German soil with a knife between their teeth: everyone keeps in mind that after this weekend’s race, the summer break (the 125 and 250 not participating in the Laguna Seca round in the United States) will calm the hellish pace of this season of twists and turns! Under these conditions, poor performance and injury are excluded, as the bitter experience of the leader of the championship, Mika Kallio…

Seeing his track record beaten in turn by Hector Barbera (Friday morning) and Marco Simoncelli (Friday afternoon), the KTM rider will have to show courage and stubbornness to succeed in retaining his place in the championship, or at least stay in touch following his injuries contracted in private trials…

Zoom on…

Championship leader Mika Kallio, who was injured during private testing in Brno a fortnight ago: relieved with a sprained knee and left ankle, the Finn will have to grit his teeth to lead his KTM on the tortuous German circuit … the noises of the corridors announcing it on the handlebars of a Ducati or at Tech 3 in 2009 will help him to keep smiling !

Confirming the good health of the KTMs on the German track (the Austrian manufacturer took pole there, the best top speed and victory in 2007), Julian Simon climbs to second position on the grid behind Marco Simoncelli. Very fit this season, the Italian hesitated for a long time to abandon his faithful Gilera LE in favor of a factory machine after tests carried out in Brno. Undecided, the No.58 finally chose to end the season with the latest addition from the Italian manufacturer, praising the acceleration and top speed of the latter..

Hector Barbera sets the third fastest time ahead of Kallio, Bautista and Alex Debon: the fight between the six men during the first laps promises to be hot !

The race !

departure : It is under a gray sky and on a wet track that the 23 drivers of the 250 are placed on the starting grid. Julian Simon is the fastest to break out of his grid position, ahead of Italian Fabrizio Laï, Marco Simoncelli, Alex Debon and Hector Barbera.

Simoncelli quickly passed the Aprilia of the Campetella team and prepared to attack the leading man: it will be done on the home stretch downhill! At the same time, Hector Barbera creates an interior on Alex Debon.

2nd and 3rd rounds : Simoncelli enters the second lap in front ahead of Julian Simon, Hector Barbera, Mika Kallio, Alex Debon, Fabrizio Laï, Mattia Pasini, Roberto Locatelli and Aoyama. Julian Simon returns to Simoncelli and manages to temporarily regain the advantage: the n ° 58 responds immediately and takes the lead.

Alex Debon makes a mistake in a quick left: the driver gets up unscathed, manages to start again, but ends up returning to the pits … Karel Abraham also leaves this decidedly tricky track! Julian Simon also plays the balancing act when entering curves, which benefits Barbera who passes him following a gap by the KTM driver! Far behind, the irregular Bautista whips to climb back up after some timid first laps.

4th and 5th rounds : Marco Simoncelli is still first ahead of Hector Barbera who has just overtaken Simon. He now finds himself under threat from Mika Kallio. Alvaro Bautista and Thomas Luthi are in a fight behind for the seventh position: the n ° 19 overtakes the Swiss at the entrance of a fast right and immediately sets off to chase the leading men..

6th, 7th and 8th laps : Mika Kallio takes advantage of the extension of his factory KTM to overtake Simon’s on the pit straight, but the Spaniard takes him back under braking! From the next round, the Finn will make the same attack to take third position behind Barbera.

9th, 10th and 11th laps : Simoncelli is now more than six seconds ahead of Barbera, Kallio and Simon while Aoyama precedes Pasini and Alvaro Bautista. Mika Kallio made the inside at Barbera and took second place. The injured Finn is doing a good job at the world championship so far, conceding only a few points to Marco Simoncelli.

12th and 13th rounds : The rain redoubled in intensity, but that did not seem to upset the leader of the event: with his factory Gilera, Marco Simoncelli pranced ahead with more than seven seconds in advance! Kallio, Barbera and Simon are still fighting for second place, but the Finn responds to the attacks of the other two drivers by setting the lap record !

Bautista gradually returns to Mattia Pasini’s Aprilia: the Spaniard is now 2.1 seconds behind the pilot before him, setting the lap record.

14th, 15th and 16th laps : Fearsome consistency, Marco Simoncelli continues to mark this German Grand Prix with his mark ahead of Kallio, Barbera, Simon, Aoyama, Pasini, Bautista and Luthi.

Kallio’s teammate makes a mistake following an overly generous go-around: the unfortunate Aoyama gets up unscathed and tries to start again despite a completely torn fairing !

17th and 18th laps : Bautista has returned to contact with Pasini and seems able to attack him shortly.

Hiroshi Aoyama lost only two places following his fall and continues to compete in the race with his right fairing which rubs during cornering! Lucas Pesek also makes a mistake, but will not be able to start again. Hector Faubel still does not confirm his potential in 250 and is struggling to get back into the right group.

19th, 20th and 21st laps : Mattia Pasini reacted following the rise of Bautista and now turns faster than Julian Simon who precedes him: the two men come back very strongly on this group composed of Kallio, Barbera and Simon.

22nd and 23rd laps : Marco Simoncelli is now 7.3 seconds ahead of Kallio, Barbera and Simon who see Mattia Pasini and Alvaro Bautista return in their wake. Hector Barbera takes second position thanks to a gap from Kallio at the entrance of a fast right.

Alvaro Bautista delays his braking at the bottom of the descent and manages to infiltrate under the fairing of Mattia Pasini’s Aprilia: a little optimistic in his maneuver, the Spaniard does not pass far from Julian Simon’s rear wheel !

24th, 26th and 27th laps : Insensitive to the maneuver of n ° 19, the KTM rider applies himself to keeping the rope in the right before the long descent and passes a Mika Kallio who no longer seems able to keep a high pace: Bautista takes advantage of this. ‘elsewhere to repeat his overtaking of the preceding lap and thus seize the fifth position. Incredible comeback for the driver of Aspar Martinez who was only in 17th place at the end of the first lap !

The group has nearly 25 seconds on the first pursuer, Luthi, and continues to arouse even more: Kallio is under the threat of Pasini, while Bautista tries to pass Simon sometimes inside, sometimes outside !

Applied, n ° 19 will eventually win by keeping the rope in the first long straight. Julian Simon continues to enter a curve by sliding the back of his machine: spectacular if there is one, his method does not seem the most effective, since after Bautista, it is Kallio’s turn to overtake the Spanish !

Last round : Marco Simocelli starts the last loop with a boulevard ahead of Hector Barbera, Alvaro Bautista, Mika Kallio, Julian Simon and Mattia Pasini. Bautista tries to find the fault in Barbera, but he reacts just as dry by setting the fastest lap in the race !

The leading order will not change until the checkered flag and the smiling Marco Simoncelli wins standing in wheelie on his motorcycle! Note the astonishing 8th final place of the tenacious Hiroshi Aoyama, despite his fall and his torn fairing !

Making an excellent deal in the world championship, Marco Simoncelli took the lead in the standings ahead of Mika Kallio who is now 11 points behind the Italian following his modest fourth place. Alvaro Bautista moved back to third overall thanks to the fall of Alex Debon, who lost only one place. Hector Barbera is fifth with 51 points behind Simoncelli, ahead of Pasini, Aoyama, Luthi and Takahashi.

They are explained:

Marco Simoncelli (1st) : "It’s a perfect day! I am very happy, it is wonderful! I thought the race was going to be tough, I got a new bike and thought it would be tough. But the weekend was perfect. This morning I was disappointed when I saw the rain, because yesterday I was very fast in the dry. I tried to concentrate and give the maximum. I was very quick and kept a considerable lead !"

Hector Barbera (2nd) : "I was hoping to do better, because the warm up went really well. The conditions were different for the race. I gained confidence and improved my pace, and at the end of the race I was very fast. I’m not quite satisfied, but it’s not a bad result".

Alvaro Bautista (3rd) : "It’s a good result for me. I was very slow on the first two laps because I had no feeling on the wet track. It was hard to enjoy the race because the front and back were slipping … Lap after lap I started to gain confidence and feel better at the end. I fought for second place but I preferred to settle for third rather than take too many risks, because I could easily have fallen here !"

Race classification 250 – Sachsenring
1- M. SIMONCELLI 6- M. PASINI 11- A. BALDOLINI
2- H. BARBERA 7- T. LUTHI 12- F. LAI
3- A. BAUTISTA 8- H. AOYAMA 13- A. ESPARGARO
4- Mr. KALLIO 9- Y. TAKAHASHI 14- H. FAUBEL
5- J. SIMON 10- R. LOCATELLI 15- E. LAVERTY

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR and F. KIRN

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