MotoGP 2008 - Round Ten - Sachsenring (Germany)

MotoGP 2008 - Round Ten - Sachsenring (Germany) - 250cc Race

By Jake Leech

250 Race Report - Sachsenring
By Jake Leech

Red hot Italian Marco Simoncelli stared the 250cc race at the Sachsenring from pole. This was only the second time he had claimed the ultimate grid position since moving to the 250cc class - the other was in Portugal earlier this year.

He was joined on the front row by promising yet somewhat disappointing Spaniard Julian Simon, his countryman Hector Barbera and Championship leader Mika Kallio. The Finn was back on the front row for the first time since the Mugello race over a month ago.

Heading up row two was Alvaro Bautista; he had qualified lower than 3rd place on the grid for the first time this year. He was accompanied by Alex Debon, Fabrizio Lai and Roberto Locatelli. Lai qualified in his best grid position since moving up to the 250cc class at the start of last year.

The morning’s warm-up session was run in wet conditions and the race was going to be fought out in similarly damp conditions. A heavy downpour coated the Saxony based circuit at the conclusion of the 125 race and grey skies and puddles greeted the 250 riders on the grid.

Off the line Simoncelli made the best initial launch. However it was Simon who headed the field into turns one and two, followed closely by wet-weather expert Fabrizio Lai. Lai was quickly demoted down the order by pole-man Simoncelli and fiery Spaniard hector Barbera.

Simoncelli continued his forward momentum, breezing past Simon for the race lead and instantly pushing hard to establish a gap. The Italian was pushing fractionally too hard however and relinquished the lead after a near high-side.

Simon responded in kind after moving back into the lead, the rear of his KTM twitching and he only just managed to stay aboard.

Alex Debon crashed out of the race with 27 laps to go. He was able to re-mount but would later retire from the race.

Simoncelli managed to build a gap during the early stages of the race as Simon did his best to stick with the on-form Italian.

Simon was having a hard time of it, running wide into turn one with 26 laps remaining and relinquishing second place to his countryman Barbera. Simon had equalled his best ever grid position in the 250cc class that he also achieved at the French GP last year. He was in with a great chance of putting in a very strong race if he could get a hold on the conditions.

Karel Abraham joined the list of retirees after crashing out heavily early on.

Simoncelli continued to streak away at the front of the race. He was regularly setting fastest laps of the race and built his advantage to over three seconds with some 23 laps remaining.

The battle for third place was providing the bulk of on track entertainment in the early stages. Combatants Simon and Kallio were slipping and sliding their KTM’s into the late breaking sections of the Sachsenring circuit as through they were dirt track machines.

Kallio eventually forced his way past Simon with 21 laps to be completed, eventually making his seemingly superior outright pace pay dividends.

Having disposed of Simon, Kallio immediately tracked down and passed Hector Barbera for second place. He now had a six second gap to bridge to Simoncelli ahead of him and instantly broke away from Barbera and Simon behind him.

It would take a gargantuan effort to catch Simoncelli now as the Italian Gilera pilot continued to set fastest lap after fastest lap and build on his staggering seven second lead.

Kallio was unable to make any immediate inroads into Simoncelli’s lead after bypassing Simon and Barbera. With 16 laps to go, he was actually coming under real pressure from Barbera behind him. If standings remained as they were come the greeting of the chequered flag, Simoncelli would take over at the head of the championship standings from Kallio.

The quickest man on track with 15 laps to run was surprisingly not Simoncelli at the head of the race, but Alvaro Bautista in seventh. He was quickly closing in on Pasini and Aoyama ahead of him, who were in turn running some five seconds in the rears of Simon in fourth.

Hiroshi Aoyama crashed out of the race with 13 laps to run, feeling the pinch as Pasini and Bautista closed in on him from behind. The Japanese KTM pilot was however able to remount and rejoin the race.

With 10 laps to run Simoncelli’s lead stood at an ever impressive seven seconds, he headed the top 10 from Kallio, Barbera and Simon with a further gap back to Pasini, Bautista, Luthi, Aoyama, Takahashi and Locatelli.

Lukas Pesek joined the ever growing list of retirees a lap later, crashing out of 11th place in familiarly frustrating style.

The battle for second place began to heat up in the closing stages of the race as Barbera and Simon consistently closed in on Kallio ahead of them. The fiery Spaniards wouldn’t be afraid of having a go at the Finnish rider in the final laps of the race.

In turn, Pasini and Bautista in fifth and sixth were closing in on Kallio and co. ahead of them. Perhaps the so-far grey, lifeless and liquefied race would receive a much needed adrenaline boost in the final seven laps.

Barbera pushed past Kallio in typically erratic style, forcing the Finnish rider wide at turn one and allowing Simon to have a look as well. Simon was becoming more urgent in his bid to bypass Kallio as Pasini and Bautista lurked ominously behind him.

Bautista moved past Pasini with six laps to run and immediately latched onto the rear wheel of his countryman Simon. Simon felt the need to progress through the field as a result of Bautista and Pasini’s arrival; he promptly squeezed past Kallio with five laps to run.

Kallio’s nightmare continued as Bautista demoted him further down the order to fifth place. As if to accentuate his horrible second half of the race, Pasini shoved past Kallio only a lap later, moving him down to sixth place. Kallio needed to respond and did so, repaying the favour to Pasini and reclaiming fifth place a matter of corners later.

Six seconds clear at the head of the race, Simoncelli was being forgotten as a result of the eye popping five way battle taking place behind him.

Bautista continued his impressive wet weather form, dispatching of Simon for third place and setting after Barbera ahead of him. Barbera had managed to break away somewhat from the water-logged combat behind him. His best result at Sachsenring in the 250cc class was a fifth two years ago, he looked certain to improve on that come the greeting of the chequered flag.

Kallio was continuing to recover somewhat, demoting Simon further down the order and setting after Barbera and Bautista ahead of him.

Onto the penultimate lap and Barbera was riding to the absolute limit to hold off Bautista behind him. Both riders were backing their 250cc machines into corners as if they were riding on ice.

Simoncelli was three and a half seconds clear heading onto the final lap of the race, having slowed his pace to an extremely comfortable level. Barbera and Bautista were scrapping furiously through the Sachsenring mist as they left Kallio, Simon and Pasini in their wake.

Barbera managed to hold onto second place over the first half of the lap but Bautista was clamped right to his rear wheel. Simoncelli crossed the line to take victory by a calm, comfortable and controlled three seconds.

Hector Barbera managed to hold onto second place with a gritty ride ahead of Bautista, Kallio, Simon and Pasini. Suisse rider Thomas Luthi, Aoyama, Takahashi and Locatelli rounded out the top 10.

As a result of his supreme victory, Simoncelli inherited the world championship lead. His point’s advantage stands at 11 points over previous leader Kallio. The paddock will now take a deserved month’s break before resuming hostilities at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic on the 17th of August. Kallio will look to regain the championship lead while Simoncelli will be hoping to build on his impressive run of results.

Race Result
1 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera Gilera 45'36.703 140.041
2 Hector BARBERA SPA Team Toth Aprilia Aprilia 45'38.960 139.926 2.257
3 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Aprilia 45'39.126 139.917 2.423
4 Mika KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 45'40.853 139.829 4.150
5 Julian SIMON SPA Repsol KTM 250cc KTM 45'41.549 139.794 4.846
6 Mattia PASINI ITA Polaris World Aprilia 45'44.835 139.626 8.132
7 Thomas LUTHI SWI Emmi - Caffe Latte Aprilia 46'15.005 138.108 38.302
8 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 46'25.629 137.581 48.926
9 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN JiR Team Scot 250 Honda 46'26.765 137.525 50.062
10 Roberto LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera Gilera 46'28.373 137.446 51.670
11 Alex BALDOLINI ITA Matteoni Racing Aprilia 46'45.499 136.607 1'08.796
12 Fabrizio LAI ITA Campetella Racing Gilera 46'45.665 136.599 1'08.962
13 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Lotus Aprilia Aprilia 46'48.054 136.483 1'11.351
14 Hector FAUBEL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Aprilia 46'48.357 136.468 1'11.654
15 Eugene LAVERTY IRL Blusens Aprilia Aprilia 46'50.559 136.361 1'13.856
16 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG Honda 47'06.679 135.583 1'29.976
17 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia Aprilia 45'54.806 134.324 1 Lap
18 Alen GYORFI HUN Motorcycle Competition Service Honda 46'13.583 133.414 1 Lap
19 Doni Tata PRADITA INA Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia Yamaha 46'24.376 132.897 1 Lap
20 Toni WIRSING GER Racing Team Germany Honda 46'16.021 128.536 2 Lap

Championship Standings
1 Marco SIMONCELLI Gilera ITA Metis Gilera 164
2 Mika KALLIO KTM FIN Red Bull KTM 250 153
3 Alvaro BAUTISTA Aprilia SPA Mapfre Aspar Team 118
4 Alex DEBON Aprilia SPA Lotus Aprilia 114
5 Hector BARBERA Aprilia SPA Team Toth Aprilia 113
6 Mattia PASINI Aprilia ITA Polaris World 108
7 Hiroshi AOYAMA KTM JPN Red Bull KTM 250 98
8 Thomas LUTHI Aprilia SWI Emmi - Caffe Latte 86
9 Yuki TAKAHASHI Honda JPN JiR Team Scot 250 85
10 Julian SIMON KTM SPA Repsol KTM 250cc 68
11 Roberto LOCATELLI Gilera ITA Metis Gilera 52
12 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia SPA Lotus Aprilia 49
13 Hector FAUBEL Aprilia SPA Mapfre Aspar Team 41
14 Ratthapark WILAIROT Honda THA Thai Honda PTT SAG 34
15 Karel ABRAHAM Aprilia CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 25
16 Alex BALDOLINI Aprilia ITA Matteoni Racing 23
17 Lukas PESEK Aprilia CZE Auto Kelly - CP 22
18 Manuel POGGIALI Gilera RSM Campetella Racing 16
19 Fabrizio LAI Gilera ITA Campetella Racing 16
20 Eugene LAVERTY Aprilia IRL Blusens Aprilia 8
21 Federico SANDI Aprilia ITA Zongshen Team of China 2
22 Manuel HERNANDEZ Aprilia SPA Blusens Aprilia 2
23 Imre TOTH Aprilia HUN Team Toth Aprilia 2
24 Doni Tata PRADITA Yamaha INA Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia 1

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