MotoGP 2008 - Round Four - Shanghai (China)

MotoGP 2008 - Round Four - Shanghai (China) - 250cc Race

By Jake Leech

The quarter litre class has been perhaps the most entertaining class in GP racing this year. Alvaro Bautista claimed pole position for the race after Saturday’s qualifying session, making it his second for the year. He would be aiming to score back-to-back victories for the first time since moving up to the 250cc class and was joined on the front row by countryman Hector Barbera, Championship leader Mika Kallio and another Spaniard in Julian Simon.

Simoncelli headed up the second row of the grid followed by Thomas Luthi, Mattia Pasini and former 125cc and 250cc world champion Manuel Poggiali in eighth. The race would take place on a damp, drying track and the result would be well and truly up in the air.

Barbera, Simoncelli, Kallio and Bautista were the men to watch in the morning’s wet warm-up session. They would surely be the ones to watch during the race.

Away from the line and Hector Barbera made the best of starts, his only 250cc victory came at this even last year and he lead the way into the tight and twisty turns one and two. He was followed closely by Simoncelli and Bautista. Simoncelli continued on the momentum from his great start, moving past Barbera and taking over at the head of the race.

Karel Abraham, Baldolini and Poggiali had a monumental coming together at the end of the back straight on lap one, all crashing out of the race.

Alvaro Bautista used the power of his factory Aprilia to blast past both Simoncelli and Barbera down the back straight on lap twp. Barbera and Simoncelli in the same group looked to be a recipe for disaster. Banging fairings and elbows in the wet, tricky conditions would not be the best approach.

Both riders were remaining surprisingly composed early on, moving back past temporary race leader Bautista. Bautista responded, moving back past Simoncelli and now heaping pressure all over the back of Hector Barbera.

The constant dicing between the leading trio had allowed Kallio and Simon in fourth and fifth to close the gap and perhaps spice things up even more. Kallio continued with his forward progress, squeezing past Simoncelli to take third place. Julian Simon ran off track a few corners later as Debon crashed out directly behind him, he was able to remount. Simon’s run off was later discovered to be the result of a mechanical failure.

The Spaniard would be bitterly disappointed as he started from the front row for the first time since he was third on the grid at Donington last year and was unable to capitalize.

Thomas Luthi was another rider to crash out with 16 laps remaining, never quite recovering from an extremely poor start, almost stalling on the grid.

Back at the front, Bautista continued to lead the way from Barbera, Kallio, Simoncelli and Hiroshi Aoyama.

As the laps progressed, Mika Kallio started setting fastest laps of the race and eventually moved past Hector Barbera for second place. He now had Alvaro Bautista in his sights. With the increase in pressure came the demise of race leader Bautista. The Spaniard lost the front into turn one, he was however able to re-mount.

Championship leader Kallio consequently inherited the race lead but was still followed closely by Hector Barbera, Simoncelli, Aoyama and Yuki Takahashi. Meanwhile, Bautista rejoined the race in 13th position, trailing Ulsterman Eugene Laverty in 12th.

KTM pilot Hiroshi Aoyama was on fire with 11 laps to run, moving past both Simoncelli and Barbera in only a matter of corners. He now had his teammate and race leader Kallio in his sights. The one Honda pilot in the leading group of five was Japanese star Yuki Takahashi. Riding injured, he moved past Barbera for fourth place and started closing right in on Simoncelli in third with 10 laps to run.

Takahashi continued his progress, moving past Simoncelli at the exact same place that he took Barbera only a lap earlier. Simoncelli’s response was quick and ruthless however, carving back past Takahashi with an extremely forceful move.

The order of the top 10 with 10 laps to run was Kallio leading from Aoyama, Simoncelli, Takahashi, Barbera, Pasini, Wilairot, Debon, Faubel and Espargaro.

Takahashi continued with attempts to manoeuvre his way past Simoncelli. However, each time he made a move stick, Simoncelli would use the power advantage of his Gilera to blast past the hapless Honda man down the seemingly never ending Shanghai straights.

With six laps to run, the track had dried out considerably, a clear dry line forming around the circuit. This would result in increased tyre wear for the 250cc pilots and also a consequent decrease in lap times.

Riders were now squirming and wriggling all over the greasy, intermediate tarmac. In many ways, these conditions were proving more treacherous than the waterlogged torrential conditions experienced in the morning warm-up.

Kallio was looking extremely comfortable at the head of the race, maintaining a two and a half second gap over his teammate Aoyama. Takahashi in third meanwhile was revelling in the increasingly dangerous conditions after dispatching of Simoncelli; he went about setting the fastest lap of the race with five to run.

The race began to spread right out in the closing laps, with regular two second gaps separating Kallio, Aoyama, Takahashi, Simoncelli, Pasini and Barbera. Discounting any disasters, the results appeared to be all but settled.

However, as if right on cue, Takahashi set yet another fastest lap of the race to close in further on his countryman Aoyama in second place. Onto the penultimate lap and Kallio lead comfortably from his teammate, taking over from Takahashi setting fastest lap after fastest lap all the way to the chequered flag.

Kallio took an impressive and dominating victory from his KTM teammate Aoyama. Yuki Takahashi ran wide and half pulled into the pit lane on the last corner after suffering an engine failure, handing Mattia Pasini third place, Pasini took his first ever GP win at Shanghai in 2005 aboard a 125cc machine, his good relationship with the track continued.

Simoncelli, Debon, Barbera, Takahashi, Wilairot, Espargaro and Faubel completed the order of the top 10. It was a case of KTM domination at Shanghai after Aprilia had won each of the previous 250cc Grand Prix races at Shanghai. Kallio forged a supreme victory and built on his already impressive championship lead. Kallio is the first ever KTM pilot to be leading the 250cc World Championship.

The paddock will now head to Le Mans in two weeks time to resume hostilities. Alvaro Bautista would hope to rectify his mistake and consequent 11th placing at Shanghai and yet again re-mount his championship challenge.

Quotes -

Mika Kallio (First)
"This is better than perfect! In dry conditions, we were a little behind, but the wet track today helped us. But it certainly wasn't an easy task. After the start, I watched the situation for a while and saw that there was quite a difference between me and the other guys around me. They were faster in some sections of the track, and I was faster in others, which made it difficult to overtake. Eventually I managed to get past some of the other riders and took second place."

Kallio took the advantage when Bautista crashed and then had to find his own rhythm in the lead before noticing on his pit board that Aoyama was closing the gap. "When the track dried along the fastest line, it got increasingly difficult to control the bike, and when I saw the chequered flag, I was so happy that I stopped at the pit wall to celebrate with my team," the Finn said.

Kallio said he was aware that he and the team had to continue to score points to maintain the lead in the championship. "We have to stick to our strategy of going for victories where possible, but also to settle for safe points where we don't have a chance to win," Kallio said, dedicating the victory to his team.

Hiroshi Aoyama (Second)
"I was only eleventh in practice, and to be able to celebrate my first podium finish today is a fantastic feeling! We made a last-minute adjustment on the starting grid and changed the sprocket because my sixth gear wasn't tall enough for the back straight. This was certainly the right decision for the race and it allowed me to finish safely without putting excessive strain on the engine. This meant that third and fourth gear were a little too long and it took me quite some time to get up to second place. Mika was far gone by that time, but I still pulled out all stops to catch up with him. It was really difficult because the dry line would destroy the tyre, and I didn't get enough grip I the wet sections."

Harald Bartol (KTM Technical Director)
"What a fantastic day for us. Every victory is a big step towards the title, and when your main opponent fails to score, it is even more valuable! We knew Mika had something up his sleeve for the race, because when he crashed in final practice, he was on a lightning fast lap that never showed in the time sheets. He had a very good set-up also for the wet, and we adapted a few of his settings to Hiroshi's bike as well, especially the gearing. This turned out to be the golden move. Congratulations to both of them - it simply doesn't get any better!"

250cc Race Result

250cc Championship

1 Mika KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 48'12.217 138.040
2 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 48'15.455 137.886 3.238
3 Mattia PASINI ITA Polaris World Aprilia 48'26.028 137.384 13.811
4 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera Gilera 48'30.691 137.164 18.474
5 Alex DEBON SPA Lotus Aprilia Aprilia 48'33.283 137.042 21.066
6 Hector BARBERA SPA Team Toth Aprilia Aprilia 48'37.375 136.850 25.158
7 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN JiR Team Scot 250 Honda 48'42.207 136.623 29.990
8 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG 48'52.088 136.163 39.871
9 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Lotus Aprilia Aprilia 49'00.561 135.771 48.344
10 Hector FAUBEL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Aprilia 49'07.687 135.443 55.470
11 Roberto LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera Gilera 49'08.049 135.426 55.832
12 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Aprilia 49'12.659 135.214 1'00.442
13 Eugene LAVERTY IRL Blusens Aprilia Aprilia 49'12.949 135.201 1'00.732
14 Fabrizio LAI ITA Campetella Racing Gilera 49'49.192 133.562 1'36.975
15 Doni Tata PRADITA INA Yamaha Indonesia 49'49.297 133.557 1'37.080
16 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia Aprilia 49'57.235 133.203 1'45.018
17 Russel GOMEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia Aprilia 50'25.935 131.940 2'13.718

1 Mika KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM 250 82
2 Mattia PASINI ITA Polaris World 61
3 Hector BARBERA SPA Team Toth Aprilia 49
4 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN JiR Team Scot 250 46
5 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 250 44
6 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team 39
7 Alex DEBON SPA Lotus Aprilia 34
8 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera 33
9 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Lotus Aprilia 26
10 Julian SIMON SPA Repsol KTM 250cc 23
11 Roberto LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera 21
12 Hector FAUBEL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team 19
13 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG 18
14 Thomas LUTHI SWI Emmi - Caffe Latte 14
15 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 12
16 Lukas PESEK CZE Auto Kelly - CP 12
17 Alex BALDOLINI ITA Matteoni Racing 9
18 Fabrizio LAI ITA Campetella Racing 6
19 Eugene LAVERTY IRL Blusens Aprilia 4
20 Federico SANDI ITA Zongshen Team of China 2
21 Manuel HERNANDEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia 2
22 Manuel POGGIALI RSM Campetella Racing 2
23 Doni Tata PRADITA INA Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia 1
24 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia 1

MotoGP 2008 - Round Four - Shanghai (China)

Race Reports - MotoGP - 125 - 250 - Team Reports - Dorna - Ducati - HRC - Kawasaki - Suzuki - Yamaha - Bridgestone - Michelin
Day Two - Times - Reports - Dorna - Ducati - HRC - Kawasaki - Suzuki - Yamaha - Bridgestone - Michelin
Day One - Times - Reports - Dorna - Ducati - HRC - Kawasaki - Suzuki - Yamaha - Bridgestone

---- LATE BRAKING NEWS ----