MotoGP 2008 - Round Five - Le Mans (France)

MotoGP 2008 - Round Five - Le Mans (France) - 125cc Race

Ajo Motorsport's Mike di Meglio was the home winner of a race of two halves, taking 125cc victory after rain forced a late restart. The wet weather specialist became the first French rider to triumph in the category at Le Mans since Guy Bertin in 1979, and also snatched the lead of the World Championship.

The race had been promising a frantic finish even without the return to the starting grid, with a ten-rider group awaiting a final push. However, the appearance of rain on the twelfth lap was to further bunch together the lower cylinder category pack.

On the fifteenth lap, and with wildcard and regular riders hitting the asphalt, the decision was taken to show the red flag and bring the riders into the pits. A reduced `second race' of five laps was set, with the positions as of lap fourteen deciding the grid placings.

`Poleman' Joan Olive started badly, and leading runs from Esteve Rabat and Gabor Talmacsi were ended by almost immediate crashes. That left Di Meglio able to work his magic and take a memorable victory.

Second place went to Polaris World's Bradley Smith, who had experienced the most active of races. Starting from the front row, the Briton had dropped down to nineteenth and recuperated places up to ninth in the first race, before leading after the restart and taking his second podium of the year.

Nico Terol completed the podium spots, ahead of Belson Derbi's Pol Espargaro, Shanghai race winner Andrea Iannone and member of the early race-leading pack, Stefan Bradl.

Previous series leader Simone Corsi and 2007 World Champion Talmacsi were thirteenth and fourteenth, respectively.

Race Results

Championship Standings

1 M. DI MEGLIO FRA Ajo Motorsport 10'08.574
2 B. SMITH GBR Polaris World + 0.800
3 N. TEROL SPA Jack & Jones WRB + 3.077
4 P. ESPARGARO SPA Belson Derbi + 10.407
5 A. IANNONE ITA I.C. Team + 11.697
6 S. BRADL GER Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing + 11.881
7 L. ZANETTI ITA ISPA KTM Aran + 16.372
8 J. OLIVE SPA Belson Derbi + 16.545
9 R. DE ROSA ITA Onde 2000 KTM + 19.163
10 R. KRUMMENACHER SWI Red Bull KTM 125 + 22.391
11 S. CORTESE GER Emmi - Caffe Latte + 22.847
12 P. TUTUSAUS SPA Bancaja Aspar Team + 23.195
13 S. CORSI ITA Jack & Jones WRB + 23.553
14 G. TALMACSI HUN Bancaja Aspar Team + 23.695
15 A. MASBOU FRA Loncin Racing + 24.240
16 T. NAKAGAMI JPN I.C. Team + 26.196
17 E. RABAT SPA Repsol KTM 125cc + 26.411
18 R. LACALENDOLA ITA Matteoni Racing + 26.895
19 L. ROSSI FRA FFM Honda GP 125 + 27.446
20 S. GADEA SPA Bancaja Aspar Team + 31.829
21 D. WEBB GBR Degraaf Grand Prix + 34.810
22 R. MURESAN ROU Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing + 35.190
23 D. AEGERTER SWI Ajo Motorsport + 47.840

1 Simone CORSI ITA Jack & Jones WRB 59
2 Joan OLIVE SPA Belson Derbi 50
3 Nicolas TEROL SPA Jack & Jones WRB 50
4 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Ajo Motorsport 49
5 Stefan BRADL GER Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing 48
6 Sergio GADEA SPA Bancaja Aspar Team 32
7 Andrea IANNONE ITA I.C. Team 32
8 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Bancaja Aspar Team 30
9 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Belson Derbi 26
10 Stevie BONSEY USA Degraaf Grand Prix 25
11 Danny WEBB GBR Degraaf Grand Prix 21
12 Scott REDDING GBR Blusens Aprilia Junior 20
13 Sandro CORTESE GER Emmi - Caffe Latte 17
14 Bradley SMITH GBR Polaris World 16
15 Efren VAZQUEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia Junior 14
16 Michael RANSEDER AUT I.C. Team 12
17 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Ajo Motorsport 12
18 Raffaele DE ROSA ITA Onde 2000 KTM 12
19 Pablo NIETO SPA Onde 2000 KTM 11
20 Esteve RABAT SPA Repsol KTM 125cc 9
21 Tomoyoshi KOYAMA JPN ISPA KTM Aran 6
22 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol KTM 125cc 4
23 Stefano BIANCO ITA S3+ WTR San Marino Team 3
24 Pere TUTUSAUS SPA Bancaja Aspar Team 1
25 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN I.C. Team 1

MotoGP 2008 - Round Five - Le Mans (France)
Race Reports - 125 - 250 - MotoGP
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