MotoGP – The Chinese Grand Prix 125 lap by lap –

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The Chinese Grand Prix 125 lap by lap

MotoGP - The Chinese Grand Prix 125 lap by lap -

Signing encouraging results since the start of the season, the young Mike di Meglio is showing himself in great shape for this Chinese race: will the weather variations planned for this weekend benefit the Toulouse driver ? Turn by turn of the 125.

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The fall of Mike di Meglio in the very last moments of the session: the French driver recovered unscathed, but dropped back to eighth place in the standings while he was in the top three for a long time…

Friday: first qualifying session
Under a radiant sun, Stefan Bradl set the best time ahead of Bradley Smith, Nicolas Terol, Simone Corsi, Gabor Talmacsi, Sergio Gadea, Raffaele de Rosa, Mike di Meglio, Danny Webb, Pol Espargaro, Joan Olive and Andrea Iannone. Jules Cluzel is 26th, Alexis Masbou 31st and Louis Rossi 34th.

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Aprilia’s grip on the Chinese circuit : during the qualifiers, 14 machines from Noale’s coat of arms monopolize the first 15 places in the ranking! Note the fall at the very end of the session of Jules Cluzel who will not be able to start the race, victim of a broken scaphoid…

Saturday: second qualifying session
Bradley Smith wins the qualifications ahead of Terol, Di Meglio, Talmacsi, Iannone, Olive, Esparagro, Bradl, Gadea, Webb, Cortese, Corsi, Nieto, Aegerter and Bianco. Alexis Masbou is 25th, Jules Cluzel 27th and Louis Rossi 34th.

Sunday: race
Departure : On a wet track and in light rain, Bradley Smith takes the hole shot. Behind him, emerging from the second row, Andrea Iannone tries, from the fourth turn, to take the lead! And it’s done a few meters further, thanks to a beautiful interior on the English.

The two drivers are ahead of Gabor Talmacsi, Pol Espargaro, Mike di Meglio (who lost two places in the first corners), Sergio Gadea, Nicolas Terol, Stefan Bradl and Joan Olive.

Gabor Talmacsi looks back at Bradley Smith as Iannone digs the hole, building a fast pace despite the more than precarious grip conditions…

2nd round : Iannone completed the first lap in the lead, followed by Talmacsi who got rid of Smith, Espargaro, Di Meglio, Olive, Bradl, Cortese, Ranseder, Gadea (victim of a slight fall), Corsi, de Rosa, Rabat, Terol and Zanetti. Alexis Masbou is 21st, Louis Rossi 28th.

The reigning world champion tries to brake on Andrea Iannone at the end of the first long straight line (1202 m!) Of the circuit: Talmacsi deviates slightly at the exit of the hairpin, but manages to keep the leadership at the start of the straight line of the pits. At the asp of the two pilots, Bradley Smith is ambushed…

3rd round : The 18-year-old Italian, Segio Iannone, gives the Hungarian change at the end of the pit straight and takes first position. Smith is just behind, in front of Espargaro, di Meglio – slightly off the hook -, Cortese, Bradl, Olive and Corsi.

The current n ° 1 achieved the fastest lap in the race and climbed up to Iannone in the same section as the previous lap: taking advantage of the excellent engine health of his factory RSA, Talmacsi passed n ° 29, retaining the braking trajectory and regains control of the race.

4th round : the order of the race leader does not change, but behind Mike di Meglio the battle is fierce: elbowing in the pit straight, Simone Corsi tries to pass Joan Olive who does not let it be told !

Stefan Bradl tries to take advantage of the fight between the two pilots to infiltrate, but Joan Olive achieves a magnificent braking and manages to contain his attackers !

Raffaele de Rosa takes the "snail" from the start of the circuit on the outside and finds himself inside Stefan Bradl at the start of the following right: surprised, the German cannot contain the attack: De Rosa pass it easily.

5th round : Gabor Talmacsi once again cedes the leadership to the astonishing Iannone, whose best result in the category is ninth place! Smith follows a little further, almost two seconds ahead of Pol Espargaro and Mike di Meglio.

Next are Sandro Cortese, Joan Olive, Raffaele de Rosa, Mickael Ranseder, Lorenzo Zaneti, Simone Corsi, Stefan Bradl, Nicolas Terol, Danny Webb and Tomoyoshi Koyama.

Sergio Gadea returns to the pits after having pulled straight, probably following a mechanical problem: no luck for the Spaniard forced to retire.

6th round : Iannone, Talmacsi and Smith have regrouped, while the current leader of the world championship, Simone Corsi, is taken off the track by a slightly optimistic Lorenzo Zanetti: the n ° 24 starts again, but he finally returns to the pits and give up.

7th round : Mike di Meglio sets the lap record, but he is almost a second and a half behind the leader. Alexis Masbou tries an inside on Pere Tutusaus, but loses the front and falls! Bradley Smith falls at the entrance of a long straight and must give up: it is certainly a turning point in the championship for the young Englishman who plays the title 125 !

8th round : Espargaro and Mike di Meglio glue back to Talmacsi and Iannone and should be able to join in the fight for the win. The gap with De Rosa (fifth) is more and more important, while the drivers of this group seem to give everything: Ranseder is even the victim of a beautiful slip from the back, but manages to recover !

9th round : Iannone and Talmacsi regain some ground on Espargaro and di Meglio. Fall of Robin Lasser who loses the front entry of a tight right.

10th round : Andrea Iannone is still leading, but Gabor Talmacsi seems more at ease than the Italian in the sequences. Behind them, Espargaro still contains Mike di Meglio.

Follow De Rosa, Ranseder (who loses the front in the same turn as Alexis Masbou previously), Cortese, Bradl, Webb, Olive and Terol.

11th and 12th rounds : Pol Espargaro was overtaken by Mike di Meglio who sets off in pursuit of Talmacsi and Iannone. Fall of Sandro Cortese, then sixth.

13th round : Iannone tries to widen the gap by setting a time of 2’23.9: Talmacsi does not seem able to react and is content to follow the hot Italian.

Mike stands on the left edge of the first straight line of the Chinese route and hoists his Derbi in front of Aprilia de Talmacsi: here is the Toulouse second, 1.7 seconds behind the first !

14th and 15th rounds : Lorenzo Zanetti makes a mistake, while Mike sets the fastest lap in the race! Will the Frenchman be able to come back – then overtake – Andrea Iannone? Despite the early hour to say the least, the whole of biker France begins to dream! Talmacsi and Espargaro now have a gap on the lead…

16th round : De Rosa passes Cortese under braking from the pit straight, but the 18-year-old German responds immediately to the next curve and takes his place !

Scott Redding’s big fall after an exit that was too wide: the front of the machine bites the synthetic grass and sends the motorcycle and the rider right in the middle of the track! Fortunately, the pilot gets up to take cover and nobody hits the machine … Abandonment on engine failure of Randy Krummenacher.

17th and 18th laps : Iannone seems untouchable in front of di Meglio, Talmacsi (who slightly returned to n ° 63), Espargaro, Bradl, Olive, Terol, Cortese (author of the lap record), de Rosa, Ranseder, Vasquez and Rabat.

Last round: Andrea Iannone finishes her last revolution quietly and is heading towards her first victory in GP125! Mike di Meglio is under threat from Talmacsi who is preparing his attack: nothing helps and our Frenchie’s Derbi crosses the finish line in second position! Gabor Talmacsi is third ahead of Pol Espargrao and Stefan Bradl.

They explain themselves

Andrea Iannone (1st) : "I was really not sure I could win here. I saw Gabor walk past me, but I knew our bikes were very fast. I want to thank my team for this fantastic weekend, the best of my life !"

Mike di Meglio (2nd) : "it’s a very good day for me because it’s been a long time since I got to this position. I don’t have the words to express my joy, I thank my team because they worked very hard to keep me at the forefront all weekend !"

Gabor Talmacsi (3rd) : "it’s a difficult start to the season. We were unlucky, but we ended up on the podium. I am very happy with the power of my engine and my race. My pace dropped at the end but it was a very positive race for me !"

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR and F. KIRN

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