MotoGP – The Indianapolis 125 Grand Prix lap by lap –

The Indianapolis 125 Grand Prix lap by lap

MotoGP - The Indianapolis 125 Grand Prix lap by lap -

After his fall in Misano, Mike di Meglio arrives in Indianapolis with the desire to consolidate his status as leader. For its part, the FFM landed Louis Rossi for the benefit of Cyril Carrillo, who will perhaps be able to realize his American dream. ? Round by round !

After twelve races, the eighths of a liter are heading for the United States to continue fighting: Mike di Meglio must imperatively repair the "blunder" of Misano (read), while Corsi, Bradl and Talmacsi will give everything to try to stop the success of French !

The ace ! It started badly for the Hungarian world champion, since Gabor Talmacsi fell during the rainy session on Friday afternoon, resulting in a painful fracture of the left scaphoid! Lorenzo Zanetti will take the opportunity to get in the lead of these tests, ahead of Andrea Iannone and Mike di Meglio. He appears focused and determined: his future with an official Aprilia – in case of a title this season – in 250 depends on his end of the season, even if we also say the Toulouse in contact with the people at KTM…

Focused on the 125, a new French driver was making his debut as the Federation’s titular driver: Cyril Carrillo (read the interview) will indeed replace Louis Rossi for the remainder of the season. The Federation having indeed analyzed the performance of the latter after Misano and judged the margin of progress of the pilot insufficient in twelve GP. The misfortune of some making the happiness of others, despite everything we wish more success to the young Cyril who will start in the deep end on a foreign circuit watered by the rains of Hurricane Ike !

The next day, young Pol Espargaro took pole position on a dry track. The official driver Belson Derbi is ahead of Mike di Meglio, Stefan Bradl, Dany Webb, Andrea Iannone, Nicolas Terol and Simone Corsi. Alexis Masbou is the second French in 27th position, while Jules Cluzel and Cyril Carrillo score the 31st and 35th place.

The race !

Departure : It is under sorrowful skies and a tricky track that the 125 plateau sets off for the 23 laps of the race. Pol Espargaro took the lead, followed closely by Mike di Meglio. The Frenchman is immediately overtaken by Iannone for a right, then by Scott Redding in the next row. Michaele Ranseder fouls the second corner, but manages to start again.

Pol Espargaro leads this first edition of Indianapolis, ahead of Iannone, Redding, di Meglio, Terol, Marquez, Aegerter and Talmacsi. Mike di Meglio widens by entering a long left and Nicolas Terol immediately takes the opportunity to pass the Derbi of French. Faithful to his habits, Mike di Meglio seems to be rolling on eggshells at the start of the race, especially as the track conditions make mistakes easier …

2nd round : Pol Epargaro crossed the line with a solid lead ahead of Scott Redding and Nicolas Terol. Marc Marquez emerges at a breathtaking speed entering the first left and the n ° 93 literally drops Mike di Meglio by taking in his wake Iannone who has demoted.

Alexis Masbou is 19th, Jules Cluzel 22nd, while Cyril Carrillo appears at the 33rd position for his first race as official Federation driver. Andrea Iannone is somewhat embarrassing to Di Meglio and the two pilots are literally neck and neck! Gaining the upper hand, the Italian reunites Marquez and overtakes him thanks to an irreproachable interior.

3rd and 4th rounds : Taking advantage of the engine extension of his official Derbi, Mike di Meglio overtakes his two opponents with ease on the straight line, but Marquez passes the Frenchman back to the first long left, while Iannone doubles him two turns later !

Gabor Talmacsi comes back like an arrow from his bad position on the grid and is now pointing in the exhausts of Mike di Meglio! This one continues his fight with Iannone and Marquez.

Nicolas Terol sets the fastest time in the race and gradually returns to the lonely leader 1.8 seconds ahead. Scott Redding is solid third ahead of Corsi, Marquez, di Meglio, Talmacsi, Cortese and Mike’s teammate at Ajo, Dominique Aegerter.

5th, 6th and 7th rounds : Pol Espargaro leads the proceedings with more than two seconds ahead of Terol and Redding. Corsi, Marquez and di Meglio follow. Abandonment of Iannone on mechanical problem.

Mike di Meglio gets rid of Marquez in the straight line and tries to attack his rival Simone Corsi, but he resists. The n ° 63 will finally pass inside in a fast left.

Corsi passes Mike again through a beautiful exterior in the first corner of the US track! The weapon pass makes Marquez and Cortese want to pass Talmacsi the previous round. The Toulouse player replied at the entrance with a quick left and let Corsi explain himself to Marquez. The young Pol Espargaro (17 years old!) Consolidates his lead with the best time, while behind the second group Cortese precedes Talmacsi, Bradl, Bonsey, Aegerter and Olive.

8th and 9th rounds : Presenting four abreast at the end of the pit straight, the group in pursuit of the leading men continues to make the powder speak! Mike di Meglio is thus struck quite violently by Corsi in the first left and here is the n ° 63 seventh !

Sandro Cortese takes the opportunity to take command of the group, while Marc Marquez gets carried away at the entrance to the first left and tries to pass Corsi, but he does not let go! Michaele Ranseder fouls for the second time, despite a desperate attempt to recover with his right hand, when his machine slips !

Nicolas Terol easily returns to Espargaro who misses a bit on several corners. Scott Redding always precedes Cortese, Corsi, Marquez, di Meglio. Marc Marquez retries the same pass on Corsi and passes it outside with insane speed! Nicolas Terol doubles Pol Espargaro thanks to a muscular entry of curve and tries to widen the gap.

10th, 11th and 12th laps : Nicolas Terol crosses the timing unit in front of Pol Espargaro who gives everything to try to regain the leadership! The two men embarrass each other a bit and it does the business of Scott Redding who always precedes Cortese, Corsi, Marquez, di Meglio, Bradl and Stevie Bonsey.

Scott Redding is lonely between the two groups and is gradually returning to the lead. But Nicolas Terol hands a ladle and sticks a second to Espargaro who sees Redding come back on him! Always ultra-fast, Stefan Bradl’s Aprilia passes the four pilots preceding it in the straight line of the pits and the first left! Sandro Cortese can’t believe his eyes and has to raise his machine slightly to let the German pass !

Corsi now closes the group behind Mike di Meglio. Stefan Bradl brought all these drivers back to Redding, while Corsi returned to di Meglio at the entrance to the first curve. Suffering from his injuries, the current reigning world champion, Gabor Talmacsi downgraded to 12th place. Sandro Cortese is passed by Marquez on the outside, but the young Spaniard is badly placed to accelerate again and must let Cortese come back! Just behind, the two rivals for the title Mike di Meglio and Simone Corsi are fighting like ragpickers and di Meglio wins !

Nicolas Terol precedes Pol Espargaro, Scott Redding, Stefan Bradl, Sandro Cortese, Mike di Meglio, Marc Marquez and Simone Corsi. Jules Cluzel is 18th, Cyril Carrillo appears in 22nd position for his first race as official driver of the federation, in front of Alexis Masbou’s Loncin.

13th, 14th, 15th and 16th laps : Sandro Cortese passes Stefan Bradl on the first left, while Corsi and Marquez pass Mike di Meglio from the inside! French seems to have slowed down, as does Bradl’s Aprilia Grizly.

Simone Corsi goes on immediately and passes Bradl from the inside with a quick right! Mike misses turns and suddenly appears 9th in the standings, just behind Bradley Smith. The rain reappears and the pilots slow down: Stefan Bradl takes the opportunity to come back to Scott Redding by taking Marquez and Cortese.

17th round : Nicolas Terol still contains Espargaro, while the marshals wave the flag signaling the change of grip. In the straight Scott Redding is passed by Bradl and Cortese, then by Marquez in the first left! The young Spaniard quickly tries an attack on Cortese, which he shoves a little at the end of the curve.

The rain is getting heavy and Espargaro takes the opportunity to join and pass Terol in the last bend! The two pilots precede Bradl, Cortese, Marquez, Redding Smith and Corsi. The second group – led by Bradl – gradually returns to the leading men at the rate of two seconds per lap! Marc Marquez continues to fight with Cortese and Redding, but the machines slip a lot and the red flag is raised: the race is stopped.

The race being too far advanced for a new start to be given, the classification is made in relation to the previous lap. Nicolas Terol therefore won his first GP ahead of Pol Espargaro, Stefan Bradl, Scott Redding, Sandro Cortese, Marc Marquez, Simone Corsi, Bradley Smith, Stevie Bonsey and Mike di Meglio. The Toulouse driver later admitted to having experienced technical problems at the end of the race..

Once again, Jules Cluzel fails at the point gate, while his teammate, Alexis Masbou, finished 26th, two places ahead of young Cyril Carrillo: "I didn’t manage to go fast enough during practice and I paid for it in the race. From the start I found myself in a bad group from which I could not extricate myself. We made a mistake in the choice of gearbox staging and the bike didn’t run very well, but it’s my fault", humbly admits the French after the race.

Mike di Meglio keeps the lead of the world championship with a race ahead of his rival Simone Corsi, 43 points over Gabor Talmacsi, 50 points over Stefan Bradl and 54 points over Nicolas Terol.

They are explained:

Nicolas Terol (1st) : "I am very happy ! It was a weird weekend with a wet then dry track, then this morning we had some problems that didn’t bother us during the race. I was able to escape a bit after passing Pol, but it became difficult with the arrival of the rain. It’s a fabulous victory for me, and I want to thank all of my team members and my sponsors".

Pol Espargaro (2nd) : "I’m happy, a second place is not an easy result. In the wet I was 18th, so I guess that’s not bad! I didn’t know if the race was going to be in the rain or not. I escaped two seconds ahead, but I couldn’t maintain this pace, the front of my bike left a bit far at the end of the pit straight and Nico was able to catch up with me. I am satisfied because we had a good weekend overall".

Stefan Bradl (3rd) : "Maybe I could have won the race with a few more laps. I got off to a really bad start, because of a gearbox problem. I attacked and closed the gap with the lead group although I had a problem in turn # 1. In the rain, I closed my eyes and accelerated. I am satisfied with the result, I still can’t believe it".

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR and F. KIRN

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