MotoGP – The Malaysian Grand Prix 125 lap by lap –

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The Malaysian Grand Prix 125 lap by lap

MotoGP - The Malaysian Grand Prix 125 lap by lap -

As the end of the season draws near, the opponents of the new 2008 world champion, Mike di Meglio, continue to put pressure on him to try to snatch the best possible place in the final standings…. Round by round !

On the huge Sepang track, the 35 pilots in the 125 category can have a blast: wide and technical, the Malaysian track allows for epic battles for tightrope walkers in the 125 category. !

Zoom on…

The package of Cyril Carrillo, following a fall during the second test session on Saturday. Raised with a fractured left radius after a collision with Marc Marquez, the FFM Honda team rider will not participate in the Malaysian GP, ​​nor in the last GP in Valencia next Sunday. Sad outcome for the driver as for the team, forced to leave the 125 plateau in 2009 for budgetary reasons.

Because if the fight for the title no longer has any reason to exist, Simone Corsi, Stefan Bradl and Gabor Talmacsi can mathematically still reach the second step of the final podium! But the Italian, the German and the Hungarian are not the type to give up or make too long calculations: it will be the victory over the last two races and nothing else! Uncomfortable from the first practice session, Mike di Meglio does not seem really able to counter his opponents: the French only obtained the ninth fastest time on Friday afternoon.

A stopwatch that will not bring a smile to a French clan marked by the violent clash between Cyril Carrillo and Marc Marquez (see box opposite), the two pilots being withdrawn for the end of the season.

Pole man on a dry track on Friday, Andrea Iannone keeps his good after a qualifying session marked by showers, where no driver is able to improve the Italian’s time. Gabor Talmacsi, Danny Webb and Pol Espargaro will start from the front row ahead of Sergio Gadea, Joan Olive, Tomoyoshi Koyama, Simone Corsi, Mike di Meglio and Stefan Bradl.

The race !

Departure : With a temperature of 38 ° C, the pilots observe each other discreetly while waiting for the lights to go out … Concentrated and responsive, Gabor Talmacsi achieves a perfect takeoff and rushes into the first straight without being worried.

Andrea Iannone quickly takes the wheel of the Hungarian, with Joan Olive’s Derbi in her wake. Nicolas Terol, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Pol Espargaro complete the top 6, while Stefan Bradl contains Dominique Aegerter and Sandro Cortese. Badly started, Mike di Meglio is locked up a little further.

Nicolas Terol takes the lead over Olive thanks to heavy braking, while Iannone tries to keep pace with a raging Talmacsi !

2nd and 3rd rounds : The two men pass the pit straight with a slight gap, while Stefan Bradl takes advantage of the incredible top speed of his Aprilia Grizzly to win over his competitors one by one! In turn, Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro bear the brunt of demonic braking from the German who now points to third place, behind Iannone and Talmacsi who widened the gap.

Bradley Smith is very threatening on Pol Espargaro: the Englishman understood that the two leaders were taking the lead and that the best way to try to get them back together was to take the aspiration of the swift Bradl! The three men precede Joan Olive, Sandro Cortese and Dominique Aegerter who whip hard to get back into contact with the group. Cortese overtakes Olive on braking on the first long straight line of the layout. !

4th and 5th rounds : Gabor Talmacsi obviously cannot get rid of Iannone, who gives everything to keep pace with the 2007 world champion! Behind them, Smith has managed to pass Espargaro on the line, but he tries to get back on the first braking of the circuit: the two men enter too wide in the right, but Smith manages to get back to the rope and close the door. !

Mike di Meglio slowly climbs up the rankings, while the Japanese Takaaki Nakagami flies very high at the exit of a right, before he and his Aprilia fall back on the track … The pilot manages to limp to the gravel as the pack passes on all sides !

Finally determined to go find the leaders on his own, Bradley Smith reunites Stefan Bradl with ease and taxes the German in stride! The n ° 17 finds itself in the grips of the Derbi d’Espargaro, while Cortese is almost back in contact, with in his wheel Olive. Cortese manages to get up to Espargaro in the first straight and passes him under braking !

6th and 7th rounds : Talmacsi and Iannone continue to set the pace, far ahead of Smith, Bradl, Cortese and Espargaro. Mike di Meglio is now in seventh position ahead of Simone Corsi. Danny Webb passes through the pit lane for stealing the start. Unhappy too, Robert Muresan – Stefan Bradl’s teammate at Grizzly – is forced to return to the pits following technical problems.

Gabor Talmacsi widened a slight gap on Andrea Iannone, while Bradley Smith still contains Stefan Bradl and Sandro Cortese. Pol Espargaro is slightly off the hook, but the Spaniard does not admit defeat and manhandles his Derbi to come back in contact with the group! Mike di Meglio takes the opportunity to return to the seat back of n ° 44, while Simone Corsi is still a few lengths ahead of Sergio Gadea, Rafaele de Rosa, Lorenzo Zanetti and the Spanish rider Pablo Nieto, who has just announced his withdrawal competition after ten years spent in 125 cc. Jules Cluzel is 21st.

8th and 9th rounds : While Gabor Talmacsi takes off to his second consecutive victory on the Sepang track, the group of pursuers tightens: Mike di Meglio now turns around the Derbi d’Espargaro, but he does not let go! Bradley Smith has taken a substantial lead over Stefan Bradl, himself temporarily sheltered from a comeback by Cortese.

Bradley Smith almost managed to catch up with a seemingly declining Iannone, as Mike di Meglio tried to pass Espargaro under braking. The two Derbi are neck and neck, but the n ° 63 will have to bow … until the next left, where the Toulouse infiltrates under the fairing of Espargaro !

10th and 11th laps : Gabor Talmacsi takes the lead alone with more than five seconds ahead of Iannone and Smith who are now wheel to wheel. A little further on follow Stefan Bradl, Sandro Cortese, Mike di Meglio, Pol Espargaro, Simone Corsi, Joan Olive, Tomoyoshi Koyama, Dominque Aegerter, Nicolas Terol, Sergio Gadea and Lorenzo Zanetti. Raffaele de Rosa is forced to retire due to technical problem.

After several attempts, Englishman Bradley Smith manages to get rid of Andrea Iannone and here is the n ° 38 in second position! Iannone quickly finds herself struggling with the group led by Stefan Bradl and in which Mike di Meglio fights with Sandro Cortese. From the first straight line of the layout, Bradl atomizes Iannone’s machine, leaving him to explain himself with Cortese and Di Meglio !

Sandro Cortese quickly goes on the offensive, but Iannone fights and forces his opponent to raise slightly in the 180 after the first long straight! "Magic Mike" is on the lookout for an embarrassment between the two pilots to try to infiltrate, while Pol Espargaro appears completely unhooked from the group and sees a Simone Corsi come back to him faster and faster.

12th and 13th rounds : Talmacsi prances in the lead and if Bradley Smith turns slightly faster than the Hungarian on one lap, the gap widened by this one puts him in principle safe from a return of his opponents.

Sandro Cortese once again managed to pass Andrea Iannone in the pit straight, but once again he rushed under his fairing as soon as he entered the first right! Cortese shifts to the outside after a right which commands a short straight and the n ° 11 manages to regain 4th place from Iannone before the next turn. !

These incessant overruns seem to have given ideas to Mike di Meglio, who in turn sneaks into a mouse hole while Pol Espargaro appears again in contact with the group! From the next braking, Derbi n ° 44 in turn passed Andrea Iannone, while Cortese made a very nice interior on Bradl !

The two come out shoulder to shoulder on a long, quick right and Cortese waves to Bradl to apologize for the virility of his maneuver! At a different pace, Simone Corsi passes Iannone and Espargaro from the inside in a long straight: the two pilots literally remain in place !

And Corsi does not stop there: after having taken the measure of Mike di Meglio, the Italian passes the French in the tight turn which controls the pit line! Annoyed, Stefan Bradl is in turn betrayed by his mechanics and must resolve to give up.

14th and 15th rounds : Bradley Smith finds himself at a considerable distance from the leader and the pilots who are chasing him. Mike di Meglio managed to regain the ascendancy over Corsi and the n ° 63 immediately tried to attack Cortese who resisted.

The French did not close the door enough after a failed attack and Corsi took the opportunity to come back! Annoyed, Mike courageously resists and the two men come out side by side from a long left! Corsi crushes his brake lever with force on the next turn and manages to turn in front of the new world champion !

But the Toulouse driver has resources and he proves it by taking the aspiration of his rival in the long straight line of the pits, then by infiltrating in front of him in the first curve on the right! A few turns further, the Frenchman gets rid of Cortese who sees Corsi pass under his nose in an ultra-fast left on a slope !

16th and 17th rounds : While Talmacsi and Smith continue their duel from a distance, Mike di Meglio is overtaken by both Corsi and Cortese in the pit straight! The n ° 63 manages to quickly pass Cortese again and settles in the seat back of Simone Corsi.

A little further on, Terol, Olive and Aegerter are fighting like ragpickers for the points of eighth place: the three drivers have Andrea Iannone in their sights, who slows down at the end of the race. The gap between Talmacsi and Smith has narrowed by a second and the Hungarian’s panelists are signaling this worrying recovery…

Nevertheless, the current n ° 1 still has more than three seconds in advance with four laps from the finish. The obstinate Sandro Cortese again managed to overtake Di Meglio under braking.

18th and 19th laps : Bradley Smith continues to nibble ground in Talmacsi and English now sees the official Aprilia of the pilot of Aspar Martinez! Mike di Meglio takes advantage of the aspiration to get rid of Cortese once again and the Frenchie quickly points in Corsi’s exhaust. The two men measure each other and quickly, the Frenchman returns to his ex-rival for the 2008 title! He retorts immediately and takes the ascendancy. Esteve Rabbat makes a mistake but manages to start again.

Mike di Meglio does not let it be fooled: he takes advantage of his entry into cannon curves to once again dispossess Corsi of his third position !

Last round : Gabor Talmacsi approaches this final loop with a comfortable lead, despite Smith’s efforts to come back. Mike di Meglio holds Corsi under braking from the pit straight, but he swerves a bit and it’s finally Cortese who will pass him in front !

Too optimistic, the Spaniard will however have to return his property to Corsi who does not hesitate to dive under the wheels of Cortese in the change of angle! Gabor Talmacsi passes under the checkered flag as the winner ahead of Bradley Smith.

Simone Corsi and Sandro Cortese dispossess Mike di Meglio of his third place in the final corner, relegating the Toulouse driver to fifth position! Not resentful, he will nevertheless congratulate Simone Corsi during the lap of honor. French precedes Espargaro, Olive, Aegerter, Terol, Iannone, Koyama, Gadea, Zanetti, Nieto, Martin, Cluzel and Folger.

In the championship, Talmacsi takes advantage of this victory to point to second place behind Mike di Meglio and ahead of Corsi, Bradl, Terol, Olive, Smith, Cortese, Espargaro, Redding, Iannone, Gadea, Marquez and Bonsey.

They are explained:

Gabor Talmacsi (1st) : "First of all, thank you very much to all my team. We never gave up despite a weird season. It is also a good result for the classification. The race was not easy, the guys were pushing really hard! It would be fantastic to keep second place in the championship"…

Bradley Smith (2nd) : "It’s a shame that we didn’t perform very well in qualifying on Friday and that it rained on Saturday … Because of that, I left far behind. In the first two laps I took advantage of the speed of my bike and braked as late as possible, but it’s always difficult to catch up with Gabor, he was four seconds ahead when I passed in front. Second place is a good result and I’ll have to wait for Valencia for the win".

Simone Corsi (3rd) : "I’m very happy with this third place and it’s a good result for the championship. I had a good battle with the other two, I didn’t get off to a good start but eventually passed Di Meglio and Cortese. I hope I can win in Valencia to get second place overall !"

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR

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