MotoGP – The Valencia Grand Prix 250 lap by lap –

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The Valencia Grand Prix 250 lap by lap

MotoGP - The Valencia Grand Prix 250 lap by lap -

For the last race of the season, all the protagonists of the 250 are determined to shine one last time. Especially since KTM is participating in its last quarter-liter race and the title has already been won for Simoncelli. Round by round !

KTM’s tribute to Kallio

After six years of collaboration and 33 podiums, KTM would like to thank its rider Mika Kallio leaving for Ducati-Alice in 2009: "Mika has been with us since the start of his Grand Prix career. We rose through the ranks and celebrated our first victories together. We fought for the world title in 125cc and 250cc and it was a very exciting time."said Stefan Pierer, CEO of KTM."Mika has an extraordinary talent and we had already said that we would support him in any way possible, not only with our bikes but also when he has the opportunity to move to the MotoGP category.".

Contested in the wet, the first practice sessions saw the Spanish Alex Debon win ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama and KTM rider Mika Kallio (see box). Marked by the falls of many pilots – including the leading men! – the second practice session however saw a Marco Simoncelli to be classified in the provisional first row.

Concentrated and swift, the Italian does not seem ready to relax his effort, as evidenced by his pole position – his 7th this season – established the next day in the very last moments of the qualifying session! Alex Debon fails in second position for 0.018 seconds and the veteran looks like a very serious threat to the race !

The two pilots precede Julian Simon, Mika Kallio, Hiroshi Aoyama, Alvaro Bautista, Ratthapark Wilairot and Roberto Locatelli.

The race !

Departure : Mika Kallio achieves the best takeoff for his last participation in 250cc, ahead of Julian Simon, Alex Debon, Roberto Locatelli, Marco Simoncelli, Hector Faubel, Hiroshi Aoyama and Alvaro Bautista.

Kallio manages to resist the pressure of an aggressive Simon and a surprising Locatelli, while Alvaro Bautista gradually climbs up the rankings.

2nd round : The three leading men hold high on Debon throughout the straight line, while Simoncelli is passed to the suction by Hector Faubel, just before the two men are literally dropped under braking by a very incisive Bautista !

Vexed, the new world champion immediately retorts and manages to get out of the first left in front of Hector Faubel. Alvaro Bautista stumbles on Debon entering the turn: the experienced Spanish closes all doors !

3rd round : Well wedged in the seat backrest of Debon’s black Aprilia, Bautista finally manages to overtake it on intake, while Julian Simon unashamedly taxes Kallio’s official KTM under braking! Both men are in Roberto Locatelli’s sights, as Bautista goes to great lengths to come back. Alex Debon is under threat from Marco Simoncelli, ahead of Takahashi, Faubel and Aoyama.

Quickly, Simoncelli takes the measure of his opponent and decides to pass him inside in a fast right: Debon does not have time to reply that the n ° 58 has already taken Bautista in his sights! The n ° 6 will not have time to think about a strategy to come back, since Yuki Takahashi and his Honda dive under his wheels in the last curve of the Ricardo-Tormo !

4th and 5th rounds : Taking advantage of the mechanical superiority of his official machine against Simon’s "client" KTM, Kallio makes an unstoppable pass before the end of the short pit straight. The maneuver gave Locatelli – author of the fastest lap in the race – desires, but the n ° 15 was unable to get the best of Simon who braked like a demon !

The Spaniard will prove it once again at the end of this lap, by taking the reins of the race from a Mika Kallio forced to bow at the first braking of the track. The two men have Roberto Locatelli, Alvaro Bautista and Marco Simoncelli on their trail, who has just set the best time..

Swift and over-motivated, Simoncelli will attempt a daring interior on Bautista who instantly responds by virulently passing his rival! Obviously if the season is almost over, the two pilots are still ready to do battle! Taking advantage of the embarrassment caused by their overtaking, Yuki Takahashi reunites the two pilots, ready to take advantage of the slightest error to try to shine during his last race in 250cc !

6th round : Once again, Kallio passes Simon back to the pit straight line and the Finn is back in first position! Roberto Locatelli hangs on just behind, but does not seem able to attack the two KTM representatives.

The Italian is also quickly picked up by Bautista and Simoncelli, but also Takahashi who has just slammed the fastest lap in the race! The six men are wheeling in wheels and already Bautista attacks Locatelli and passes him! Simoncelli hesitates for a moment to rise to the height of his compatriot and this benefits Takahashi who follows the world champion in his overtaking on Locatelli before staying at his height in the last left of the layout !

7th round : Side coast, the two pilots go up the pit lane without conceding anything and the Japanese will manage to win under the braking of the first left, just like Julian Simon on Mika Kallio! Badly placed, the Japanese was however passed by Simoncelli and Locatelli. Having recovered because of his loss of time, Simoncelli swoops down on Bautista and passes him at the entrance of a quick right.

The Spaniard tries to respond by placing himself inside on the next turn, but Simoncelli does not concede and slams the door in his rival’s face !

8th round : Mika Kallio returns to the front of the race thanks to the straight line, relegating Simon to second position ahead of Simoncelli, Bautista, Locatelli, Takahashi, then at 2.5 seconds, Alex Debon, Hiroshi Aoyama, and Hector Faubel.

Taking advantage of excellent cornering speed, Takahashi passed Roberto Locatelli from the inside on a long left.

9th round : At the head of the race, Julian Simon is looking for the fault on Kallio, while Simoncelli is pressing on the two men. Yuki Takahashi continues to surprise by taxing Bautista when braking on the straight line, immediately imitated by Locatelli! Applied, the smiling Spanish team Aspar will immediately pass Locatelli to a left.

But the Italian fights and manages to come up to Bautista in a right then to pass him, despite all the resistance of the latter! Meanwhile, Marco Simoncelli got rid of Simon and is already attacking Kallio! For the first time in the race, the world champion is in the lead !

10th and 11th laps : Marco Simoncelli takes in his wake Mika Kallio, Julian Simon and Yuki Takahashi. At a few lengths, Roberto Locatelli contains an Alvaro Bautista in decline. The Spaniard recovers and manages to get rid of Locatelli.

Marco Simoncelli tries to widen the gap on his pursuers and manages to put almost half a second to Mika Kallio. But the Finn reacts and pulls Simon and Takahashi in his wake. Bautista tries to close the gap, but the No.19 is almost 2.3 seconds behind Takahashi.

This one cleanly overtakes Julian Simon from the inside before the last chicane following an error by the Iberian pilot.

12th and 13th rounds : Simoncelli leads the race with a slight lead over Kallio, Takahashi and Simon, themselves temporarily sheltered from an attack by Bautista and Locatelli. Alex Debon is already 6.5 seconds behind the leader ahead of Faubel, Aoyama, Espargaro and Pesek.

Back from tenth place on the line, Yuki Takahashi now has second place in sight and the Japanese begin to revolve around Kallio’s KTM. Really swift, the Honda rider even allows himself to be the fastest in the race, sticking 0.127 seconds to Marco Simoncelli who nevertheless leads the race! Big fall of Fabrizio Lai, victim of a huge high side.

14th and 15th rounds : Marco Simoncelli prances ahead by managing his lead, while Takahashi widens at the entry of a right and has to redo the work to go tease Mika Kallio! Alvaro Bautista does not seem able to come back and the Spaniard has a lot to do with a Locatelli in great shape !

Simoncelli set the fastest lap in the race to try to increase his lead by around half a second over Kallio and Takahashi. Julian Simon is already relegated to 2.7 seconds, while Bautista is 5.7 seconds behind the leader! Alex Debon is 9.664 seconds behind Simoncelli and has to fight Faubel and Aoyama to keep his 7th place.

16th, 17th and 18th laps : Author of the fastest lap in the race, Kallio reacted to the leader’s breakaway attempt and the Finn returned to the exhausts of Simoncelli’s Gilera. Yuki Takahashi has not relaxed and is preparing to carry an attack as soon as possible.

Mika Kallio tries to move into the pit straight, but Simoncelli crushes his right lever at the last second and manages to keep the advantage! The three men offer a high-level spectacle to the many Spanish spectators! Julian Simon is now 4.117 seconds behind the leading group, while Bautista is back to setting very good lap times with nine laps to go.

The Spaniard quickly returned to Simon’s KTM by taking back no less than 8 tenths of a second on the lap! Locatelli is unhooked behind the n ° 19 which sounds a last very effective charge !

19th and 20th laps : The three leading men continue their breakaway, while Bautista passes Simon on the line. This one will not be justly rewarded for his good race: his KTM once again lets go a few turns further, as in the previous GP…

Simoncelli is under more and more pressure from Mika Kallio who could well see himself securing a last victory in 250cc before moving up to MotoGP alongside Canepa within the Ducati-Alice team! Yuki Takahashi is just behind the two men, wearing the Honda colors, in a category usually channeled by Aprilia.

Alvaro Bautista is 5.4 seconds behind the Japanese and seems to have returned to his early race level, but the delay accumulated so far seems too great to allow him to aim for the podium. Roberto Locatelli is lonely in 5th position, ahead of the trio Debon, Faubel and Aoyama.

21st, 22nd 23rd : The leading group begins to join the last drivers of the race and Simoncelli sees it as a final opportunity to get rid of his pursuers: passing the retarded without taking gloves, the Italian relies on the caution of his rivals to flee !

Sentence lost: Kallio does not hesitate to overtake on one side, while Takahashi overtakes on the other! Behind them, Alex Debon made a mistake in a quick right, but the Spaniard got up immediately.

Mika Kallio gives everything to stay in touch, but the Finn starts to accumulate driving errors and give up ballast to Simoncelli.

24th, 25th and 26th laps : Marco Simoncelli starts the last laps with a slight lead over Kallio who does not go far from the correctional by exiting beyond a buzzer at the exit of a fast curve! Rid of Debon, Faubel and Aoyama fight like ragpickers for sixth place !

Mika Kallio signs the best lap time and manages to come back in contact with Simoncelli: until the end, the Finn will have been able to be formidable! The two men have forgotten Takahashi who is no longer able to keep up with the increasingly rapid pace of the leading men. Aoyama overtakes Faubel under braking from the pit straight line.

Last round : The public is standing in the stands: Simoncelli and Kallio are wheel to wheel in the final loop of the final race of the 2008 season! The Italian tries to close all the doors, when the unthinkable happens: putting too much strain on the front of his KTM when entering a fast left, Kallio loses control of his bike and goes to the mat !

Simoncelli crossed the finish line with a comfortable lead over Yuki Takahashi who equaled his best result of the season – 2nd in San Marino -, then followed Bautista, Locatelli, Aoyama, Faubel, Espargaro, Wilairot, Pasini, Luthi, Kallio – who manages to save a few points, despite his fall -, Baldolini and Toth.

In the world championship, Marco Simoncelli has a 37-point lead over Bautista who precedes Kallio, Debon, Takahashi, Barbera, Aoyama, Pasini, Locatelli, Simon, Luthi, Espargaro, Wilairot, Faubel and Pesek.

They are explained:

Marco Simoncelli (1st) : "The season has been perfect. It has been a great year and it was the best way to end it. I am very happy, the race was fantastic. The start was not very good, and the first seven laps were tough, but I picked up my pace lap after lap. Then I attacked more, led the race and tried to stay ahead until the end. Fantastic. "

Yuki Takahashi (2nd) : "I’m very happy. Until yesterday we had a problem with the front, but today we had good lap times. It was my last race in 250cc and I wanted to have a good race. The start went well, then I pushed. At halfway the front was slipping, so it was difficult to catch Simoncelli. "

Alvaro Bautista (3rd) : "It’s certainly not the result I was aiming for. I wanted to win but it was difficult because the practice took place in the wet and we struggled to find the right settings. The start was wrong. was terrible, I had issues with the front fork bouncing in the brakes. I stayed calm and tried to do my best. I was lucky on the last lap, Kallio crashed got me on the podium. "

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR

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