Julian Simon took his third win of the year at a tough
125cc race held at ()
securing a fifty point advantage as the series leader.
The Spaniard produced a masterful display in the tricky
weather conditions: the race was declared dry, but heavy rainfalls towards the
end meant that the riders had to pit in to change the tires and restart for a 5
lap race. Simon took his time to study his rivals and overtook Simone Corsi on
the final lap to take the checkered flag.
He now heads into the summer break more relaxed and
closer to his first 125cc title.
Julian Simon: ""It was a very tough race,
because we were riding with soft tires under consistent light rain. Espargaró,
Márquez, Gadea and Smith did a phenomenal job, but they didn't have the luck on
their side and I was able to take advantage. When they stopped the race my team
did a fantastic job, and I knew that there were riders who would be fast out
there. I saw Smith fall, so I was cautious, but on the last lap I saw a place
to pass Simone. I pushed hard when I saw that victory was a possibility, and
this win reminds me of my first here in similar conditions. The win takes us
closer to the goal, which is the 125cc title!".
Not so fortunate were Bradley Smith and Sergio Gadea,
his teammates in the Bancaja squad. Home rider Smith started from pole, but on
the restart Smith crashed out in front while he was leading the race and ended
his victory challenge. He completed the race in twentieth place.
Fighting for glory in the first race, Gadea's fall
just a pair of laps before the red flag meant he couldn’t restart and was left
with a DNF.
Despite the unlucky race, the three AXO riders are
still first, second and third in the provisional standings.
Some problems for Chris Vermeulen in MotoGP: he was also caught
out by the changeable English weather. He pitted to change his bike in
readiness for the expected downpour, but when it didn't happen he was left to think
of what might have been as he rode to a 13th place finish.
A podium spot or AXO came from the
Superbike, too, where Michel Fabrizio rode to third in race 2 of round 10 of
the series held in . If it hadn’t been for a costly mistake in
Race 1, the AXO rider would probably have gained another podium finish: he
crashed in the early stages while he was trying to pass Spies for the lead.
Michel Fabrizio: “I am very sorry for what happened in
Race 1. It was my fault, I need to stay calmer, what more can I say? Before the
crash I saw that Ben was breaking early at that point of the track, so I
thought I could get past him there. We’re fighting for a world title so I am
angry with myself but at least neither of us was badly hurt. We made up for it
to some extent in race 2, Ben more than me. I did all I could to stay with Ben
and Max but they were too fast today; in fact the pace of the Aprilia, still in
the development phase, is a bit scary with a view to next season. Anyway, I
hold the third position overall and after the summer break I’ll continue with
the fight for the title.”