MotoGP – The Portuguese Grand Prix 250 lap by lap –

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The Portuguese Grand Prix 250 lap by lap

MotoGP - The Portuguese Grand Prix 250 lap by lap -

For this third event, the suspense is already breathless in 250: if Pasini and Kallio have won in Qatar and Jerez, Bautista, Simoncelli and Luthi intend to take their revenge in Estoril, under the gaze of tennis champion Roger Federer…

Gradually asserting himself as one of the strong men of the 2008 championship, the Italian Marco Simoncelli sets the best time of this first session. Despite everything, the cold conditions and the tricky track prevent it from approaching the record set by Dovizioso last year to less than a second..

Behind the Gilera, we find Alex Debon, Mika Kallio, Alvaro Bautista, Mattia Pasini, Julian Simon, Hector Barbera, Hiroshi Aoyama, Thomas Luthi, Ratthapark Wilairot, Yuki Takahashi, Roberto Locatelli, Manuel Poggiali, Fabrizio Laï and Hector Faubel.

Zoom on…

Federer’s mark of respect. Passing through the Estoril circuit, the No. 1 in the ATP ranking came to encourage his compatriot Thomas Luthi, with whom he shares the same sponsor. Leaving his weekend very impressed, this fan of Valentino Rossi said he was delighted by the show, but above all convinced that "as a tennis player, i only have a racket and a string, it has nothing to compare with a motorcycle! What I have to take care of seems much simpler to me !"

Second qualifying practice session (Saturday)

Taking advantage of a slightly higher track temperature than the day before, Marco Simoncelli signed his first pole position in GP 250! He got the best time on the track and beat Dovizioso’s by 0.098 seconds! Follow Bautista, Pasini, Kallio, Takahashi, Aoyama, Debon, Luthi, Barbera, Faubel, Simon, Pesek, Espargaro, Baldolini and Poggiali.

Zoom on…

Aprilia and KTM, only machines of the session to succeed in passing below the 1’41 mark. Despite their best efforts to keep pace, the Honda riders suffered on the 986 meters of the Estoril straight line: the fault of a development stopped by Honda in the quarter-liter category…

Race (Sunday)

Departure : Simoncelli, author of an excellent start, takes the lead from the first curve. The Italian is keen to make up for his lost points during the crash in Jerez and seems particularly motivated! However, very quickly, Alvaro Bautista sounded the charge and sneaked past Gilera n ° 58: will Jerez’s mano to mano resume here in Portugal? (read)

Behind the two men, Alex Debon hoists his black Aprilia in front of Kallio’s KTM which is immediately passed by the obstinate Pasini !

2nd round : Bautista widened a slight gap on Simoncelli who chose a different pneumatic ride: a relief for the n ° 19, who knows the relentlessness sometimes a little zealous of his rival! Debon, Pasini, Kallio, Takahashi, Aoyama, Faubel, Pesek, Simon, Luthi, Laï, Locatelli, Baldolini and Espargaro follow.

3rd round : Simoncelli signs the fastest lap of the race in 1’43.265 and seems to be able to catch up with the leader: the latter reacts and we can see that just like in Jerez, Bautista is faster at the end of the circuit.

Takahashi is very urgent on Kallio who certainly did not expect to be jostled in this way: the Finnish had clearly displayed his ambition to win the race, even if he conceded that his KTM was not at best in the last part of the circuit…

Thomas Luthi takes the best of Lucas Pesek, while Alex Debon flies off a left! A turning point that could be decisive in the season of the one who recovered the machine from double world champion Jorge Lorenzo…

4th, 5th and 6th rounds : Bautista signs the fastest lap in the race and continues to push on Simoncelli, who is 3 seconds ahead of Mattia Pasini. Mika Kallio managed to get rid of Takahashi’s Honda who now finds himself under threat from Aoyama’s KTM: taking advantage of the good health of Austrian mechanics, Kallio swallows Pasini in the pit straight line. Surprised, the Italian finds himself under threat from Takahashi, but he reacts and passes Kallio back on the next lap in the same place !

7th and 8th laps : Alvaro Bautista continues to whip his Aprilia and sets the fastest lap of the race in 1’41.425: the 23-year-old driver is now 3.68 seconds ahead of Simoncelli! Follow Pasini, Kallio, Takashi, Aoyama, Luthi, Simon, Pesek and Faubel.

9th round : Yuki Takahashi passes in front of Mika Kallio who finds himself just in front of his teammate: this one precedes a Thomas Luthi who seems to be struggling to come back to the group…

10th and 11th laps : Bautista still leads with a considerable lead ahead of Simoncelli, Pasini, Takahashi, Kallio, Aoyama, Luthi and Julian Simon.

But Mika Kallio returns to business by getting rid of both Takahashi and Pasini! Taking the example of his stable mate, Aoyama tries an interior on the brakes and passes Takahashi’s Honda and Pasini’s Aprilia in the next curve !

The Italian retorts immediately by passing through a mouse hole, forcing the KTM pilot to raise a little! Better placed however to re-accelerate, Aoyama recovers his place. But Pasini, unleashed, stays close to the rope with a stubborn angle and infiltrates yet again !

12th, 13th and 14th laps : Aprilia of the Mapfre Aspar team is now 7.4 seconds ahead and continues to line up respectable lap times: Simoncelli seems unable to govern.

Kallio is solid third ahead of Pasini, Aoyama, Takahashi, Luthi, Simon, Faubel, Pesek, Locatelli, Laï, Espargaro, Baldolini and Wilairot. Pasini manages his lead over Aoyama, but we can feel the Italian feverish: coming out of a right, he comes out very wide and lifts a puddle of water outside a vibrator !

15th and 16th rounds : Alvaro Bautista is now almost 8 seconds ahead of his pursuer. Unless unforeseen, it seems unlikely that the Spanish will be brought up to the regular.

Takahashi passes Aoyama inside and confirms his good form at the start of the championship: the Japanese even offers Kallio and Pasini in the process! Luthi takes advantage of his top speed to nibble the gap between him and Aoyama’s KTM Red Bull, which has just passed Pasini.

17th, 18th and 19th laps : A few drops of rain appear, as well as threatening clouds … But that does not worry Bautista who prances in the lead with more than 8 seconds in advance! Simoncelli keeps a margin on Kallio, followed by Takahashi, Aoyama, Luthi, Pasini, Simon, Faubel, Pesek, Baldolini and Espargaro.

Bestof 250 – Estoril
Race 2007 Race 2008
Pole position 1’40.355 (Andrea Dovizioso – Honda) 1’40.257 (Marco Simoncelli – Gilera)
Best lap in the race 1’40.521 (Andrea Dovizioso – Honda) 1’41.425 (Alvaro Bautista – Aprilia)
Better top speed 275.005 km / h (Alvaro Bautista – Aprilia) 274.6 km / h (Thomas Luthi – Aprilia)
Podium Bautista – Dovizioso – Lorenzo Bautista – Simoncelli – Kallio

Luthi seems to have returned to the top of his form: taxing Aoyama inside in the pif-paf at the end of the circuit, he immediately followed up with Takahashi left behind in the straight line of nearly a kilometer! Aoyama rules and also passes the Honda of team Scot.

20th round : Takahashi wants to return to the charge from the next loop! Aoyama comes out better on a big left and it is finally Pasini in ambush who tries to infiltrate! Bad pick for the Italian who will hook the rear wheel of the KTM, straighten his machine to avoid the collective fall and go to the fault !

Courageously, the n ° 75 gets up and starts again with the knife between his teeth, without checking his machine: on the first left, Mattia Pasini wants to brake but the bike goes straight into the gravel at a frightening speed … The rider climbs very high , bounces off the ground, but ends up getting up unscathed: phew !

21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th laps : Bautista continues his rider alone but the 25-year-old Finnish Mika Kallio continues his effort to catch up with a Simoncelli who can no longer maintain his pace at the start of the race.

Roberto Locatelli guides at the start of a curve and pulls straight through the gravel to avoid the fall: another difficult weekend for the pilot Gilera, who is forced to give up.

Last round : Bautista is well ahead of Simoncelli who finds himself under threat from Kallio: he tries everything for everything and manages to return to the suction on the Italian after the parabolic which serves the straight line.

Simoncelli – aware of the efforts of the KTM rider! – zigzags slightly and Kallio cannot avoid hitting the back of the Gilera! More fear than harm, even if the Finn makes his annoyance clearly understood to Simoncelli !

They explain themselves …

Rank 250
1- Bautista A. 6- Takahashi Y 11- Espargaro A.
2- Simoncelli M. 7- Simon J. 12- Baldolini A.
3- Kallio M. 8- Barbera H 13- Wilairot R.
4- Luthi T. 9- Faubel H. 14- Sandi F.
5- Aoyama H. 10- Pesek L. 15- Laverty E.

Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia / 1st) : "Today’s victory is special for me because I have been winning on this circuit for three years. I’m very happy to win here, because a lot of fans had made the trip and it feels good after the bad luck of the first two races."

Marco Simoncelli (Aprilia / 2nd) : "I am very happy, even if today it was much more difficult to follow Alvaro Bautista! I had some issues with my rear tire from the start of the race and saw that Mika Kallio was getting closer. He was a lot faster than me in the straight line and we finished really very close to each other, but I’m really very happy because it’s my first podium in 250 in two years! Thank you all !"

Mika Kallio (KTM / 3rd) : "I think we’re pretty much where I thought we would be at the start of this season, but I hope to be even better in the races ahead. I struggled with my front tire and at the start of the race I couldn’t give the maximum. Then it improved and I was able to catch up on Simoncelli who seemed to be in difficulty on the last lap. Unfortunately, I tried to pass it in the pit straight and there was this contact which made me lose a lot of speed. It’s racing, this kind of thing happens…"

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR and F. KIRN

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