MotoGP – The Chinese Grand Prix 250 lap by lap –

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The Chinese Grand Prix 250 lap by lap

MotoGP - The Chinese Grand Prix 250 lap by lap -

Contested on a track with mixed grip conditions, the 250 round of the Chinese GP promised its share of surprises … And it was indeed the case, with many crashes and twists and turns that upset the championship ! Turn by turn of the 250.

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The dazzling form of Alvaro Bautista, which from mid-session turns in 2’05.6, that is to say a second faster than its direct competitors and a tenth faster than the fastest lap in the 2007 race! Note, the big fall of Doni Tata Pradita who was hit by Russel Gomez and the exit of the track by Marco Simoncelli at the end of the session.

Friday: first qualifying session
It was under a summer temperature (over 25 ° C) that the Spaniard Bautista set the best time of this session. Follow: Mika Kallio, Barbera, Luthi, Pasini, Simon, Simoncelli, Faubel, Aoyama, Takahashi, Poggiali, Pesek, Debon, Locatelli and Espargaro.

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Alain Roger (Aprilia France communication and competition manager), which confirms the brand’s return to MotoGP by 2011 and this, with a radically new machine: exit therefore, the hypothetical return of the RS Cube…

Saturday: second qualifying session
Bautista took the fastest time with 0.435 seconds ahead of Barbera. Behind the two Aprilia riders are Mika Kallio (despite a crash in the very last minutes), Simon, Simoncelli, Luthi, Poggiali, Locatelli, Takahashi, Aoyama, Debon, Faubel, Pesek, Espargaro and Pasini.

Sunday: race
Departure : It is on a drying track that Hector Barbera tackles the first curve of the circuit in the lead. The n ° 21 precedes Simoncelli, Bautista, Simon, Kallio, Debon, Pasini, Takahashi, Aoyama and Locatelli. Thomas Luthi literally remains stuck on the grid and leaves in the last !

Marco Simoncelli hoists his Gilera in first position, thanks to a beautiful interior in a big left of the track of 5281 meters. A few drops of rain reappear, justifying the choice of all the pilots to ride on wet tires. Fall of Karel Abraham (who will retire a few laps later) and Alex Baldolini while braking on the long straight.

2nd round : Simoncelli starts the second loop in the lead, followed by Barbera, Simon, Bautista, Kallio, Pasini, Aoyama, Debon, Takahashi, Faubel, Wilairot, Pesek, Espargaro, Locatelli, Luthi, Gomez, Laï and Pradita.

Alvaro Bautista is pressed on Hector Barbera, but the latter hangs on and stays in front: he also tries to pass Simoncelli inside a long left, but the two pilots touch each other at the point of rope and the Italian stays in the lead !

Not for long, since Alvaro Bautista ended up overtaking both thanks to the aspiration of the first straight! These overruns do the business of Kallio and Pasini who stick to Barbera, past third !

3rd and 4th rounds : Barbera succeeds in passing Simoncelli who pushed aside at the start of the curve, but the n ° 58 immediately passed the Spanish! Lucas Pesek returns to the pits, visibly plagued by technical problems.

Bautista makes a slight mistake at the hairpin that ends the long straight and Barbera, who has just passed Simoncelli, takes the opportunity to infiltrate! Persistent Marco Simoncelli also doubles Spanish, while Julian Simon gets rid of Mika Kallio.

The trajectory starts to dry up and all the pilots try to preserve their rain tires by driving in the wet areas of the straight lines.

5th round : Hector Barbera started the lap in the lead, followed by Bautista who passed Simoncelli under braking from the straight line. Mika Kallio passed Simon again, following a gap by the KTM pilot Repsol in the hairpin.

Abandonment of Manuel Poggiali. Bautista and his n ° 19 take back the lead, thanks to an interior on Barbera, just before the main straight.

Fall of Thomas Luthi who was struggling to compensate for his poor start, but also of Alex Debon the official Aprilia rider and Julian Simon off the track: the three men can start again, but only Debon will be able to continue the race.

6th round : Kallio passes Simoncelli who finds himself threatened by the other KTM rider, Aoyama. Bautista and Barbera have a few steps ahead of this group closed by Takahashi.

Mattia Pasini and Ratthapark Wilairot follow at two seconds, while the 9th (Hector Faubel) is already 2.5 seconds behind the two men !

7th round : Mika Kallio gets closer to Barbera by setting the lap record in 2’17.239: obviously the Finn is more at ease on a drier track and he overtakes the Spaniard under braking on the first straight. Simoncelli is slightly behind the leading group.

8th round : Bautista crosses the pit straight in first position, but loses the front in the long straight which closes just after !

The pilot is unharmed and runs to recover his machine, but loses all the benefit of his efforts until then.

Kallio finds himself in the lead followed by Hiroshi Aoyama – who has just passed Simoncelli, then Barbera – and Takahashi, Pasini, Wilairot, Faubel, Espargaro, Debon, Locatelli, Laverty and the unfortunate Bautista.

9th round : Takahashi is pressing on Barbera and we feel that the Honda rider has all his chances: the n ° 72 takes the ascendancy over the hot Spanish, who won the 2006 edition of this Chinese race.

10th and 11th laps : Alex Debon achieves his best lap and doubles two pilots: here is the pilot in the Aprilia Noire (ex-Jorge Lorenzo) in eighth position.

Mika Kallio continues to prance in front of his team-mate Aoyama and Takahashi: this unprecedented ranking excludes any Aprilia from the podium !

12th round : Aware of the dishonor for the Italian coat of arms, Marco Simoncelli succeeds in recovering his position to the detriment of Takahashi: the n ° 58 is better placed at the exit of the hairpin and reaccelerates earlier than his opponent’s Honda.

Debon continues his recovery on Wilairot (7th), but is three seconds behind his opponent. Hector Barbera is off the hook and can no longer keep up with the pace of the leading group.

13th round : Kallio leads ahead of Aoyama, Simoncelli, Takahashi, Barbera, Pasini, Wilairot, Debon, Faubel, Espargaro.

Yuki Takahashi returns to Marco Simoncelli thanks to strong braking: if the Honda lacks trunk, it seems more stable than its Italian rival under braking.

14th round : the leading order is unchanged, but Simoncelli and Takahashi keep doubling down! It makes the business of the leading men who widen the gap.

Alex Debon passed Wilairot: the Spaniard is the fastest on the track! Mattia Pasini rings the charge and passes Hector Barbera.

15th and 16th rounds : the gaps are widening, in particular that between Takahashi and Simoncelli. Bautista is still 13th four seconds behind 12th.

17th round : Kallio still leads ahead of Aoyama, but Yuki Takahashi has the fastest lap in the race in 2’16.567, ten seconds behind the track record in the dry !

18th round : the Finnish and his KTM set the fastest lap in the race, while Mattia Pasini got back on Marco Simoncelli and overtook him at the entrance of a quick right, stealing fourth position from him !

Meanwhile, Alex Debon came back to Hector Barbera – who seems more and more in difficulty – and passes him under braking. But the n ° 6 misses the rope at the next hairpin and Barbera takes his place immediately !

19th round: Kallio consolidates his lead: the 25-year-old Finn continues to be the fastest on the track. He who won his first GP 250 at Motegi seems to be flying towards a certain victory again. Debon ironed Barbera.

Last round : Aoyama is still second ahead of Takahashi, Pasini, Simoncelli, Debon, Barbera and Wilairot.

Kallio crosses the finish line with a considerable lead over his teammate, while Takahashi pulls straight into the last curve before the finish! The Japanese will finally finish 7th, victim of a "mechanical problem".

Pasini took the opportunity to get on the podium, ahead of Simoncelli, Debon and Barbera.

They are explained:

Mika Kallio (1st) : "It was very, very difficult for everyone. We started the race in the dry but there were still some wet areas. At the beginning I just tried to follow the Aprilia riders and I didn’t have to push hard to follow them. When Bautista crashed I found myself first which made the race a bit more difficult because until then I just had to follow him. So I tried to keep a constant pace. The double is a perfect result for KTM".

Hiroshi Aoyama (2nd) : "It was a long and very hard race. I got off to a bad start and the braking was very hard, making overtaking difficult. After the fall of Bautista the race was unwound and I was able to clear my way there. I can’t believe I’m on the podium".

Mattia Pasini (3rd) : "I had a bit of a strange race. I didn´t have a bad start but lost my rhythm in the first three laps. I came back to the race bit by bit and I was very fast in the second half of the race, and I was able to overtake Simoncelli and Barbera. I had worn out my tires at the halfway point so it was difficult but it was a perfect race for me".

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR and F. KIRN

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