MotoGP 2005

Australia's Anthony West gave the new Red Bull KTM 250 machine a dream debut with a storming second place in today’s rain soaked British Grand Prix at Donington Park.

West was a master of the water-logged track as he staged a breathtaking battle against Frenchman Randy de Puniet and fellow Australian Casey Stoner.

In a dramatic final two laps, West fought out a tough duel against De Puniet who won the race by just 1.2 seconds with Stoner in third place.

The result was the perfect debut for the new KTM 250 GP bike developed in Austria by Harald Bartol and his team. Second place on the podium for West came just over an hour after Julian Simon had won the 125cc British GP, also on a KTM.

In pouring rain West rode a spectacular and very brave first lap and charged from 15th on the grid to be second at the end of lap one.

By lap three West had passed world champion Dani Pedrosa (Honda) to be in third place behind Hiroshi Aoyama and Randy de Puniet. When Aoyama crashed out on lap 13 the race became a titanic three-way battle between De Puniet, West and Stoner.

The trio swapped positions many times with their bikes sliding wildly in the treacherous conditions. On the final lap West pushed hard to try and pass De Puniet and just saved a huge slide on his way to a brilliant second place.

The Red Bull KTM team is now motivated for the next race, the German GP, at the Sachsenring this coming Sunday (July 31).

Anthony West #14 - Second - Championship : 16th/ 20 points

“I’ve waited so long to race the Red Bull KTM and today made the wait worthwhile, the bike is very good and will only get better from here. The track was unbelievably slippery and at the end of every lap I just thought : “That’s a relief, I’ve finished another lap.” I was just hoping to get some points today so second place is a big bonus for both me and the KTM team. The KTM chassis is so predictable, with the handling and on the brakes, and this was a big help in these conditions. And I like riding in the rain, the bike slides around a lot which is like dirt track and motocross where you learn throttle control. A couple of times I thought about slowing down to make sure I finished but decided to keep racing with De Puniet and Casey.”

Harald Bartol - Technical and Managing Director - “That was an unbelievable race and perfect result by Anthony. I knew in these very wet conditions that Anthony would be up the front so I was just hoping that the bike had no problems. This result is a reward for all the hard work by everyone in the Red Bull KTM team and a big motivation for the future. It is the best thing that could have happened.”

125

Red Bull KTM rider Julian Simon scored a career first grand prix victory with a courageous wet weather ride in today’s British Grand Prix at Donington Park.

The 18 year-old Spaniard took control of the water-logged race over the final two laps to win by 2.4s ahead of Italian rider Mike di Meglio. Another Italian Fabrizio Lai was third.

The race was run over a shortened distance of nine laps after heavy rain forced the first part to be red-flagged after seven laps.

In the second race Simon started ninth but quickly charged into second place on lap three as heavy rain made conditions very slippery with poor visibility.

With two laps remaining Simon took the lead and went on to win his first GP at one of his favourite tracks.

The race was a dramatic affair for Simon’s Red Bull KTM teammates Mika Kallio and Gabor Talmacsi.

Kallio finished seventh after being forced to start the second race from the pit lane when his bike developed an engine problem that was quickly fixed by KTM technicians. Kallio had switched to his spare bike after the race stoppage.

Kallio was 13th at the end of lap one and picked up valuable championship points for seventh position.

World championship leader Talmacsi had a torrid day with two crashes. Talmacsi was leading the race when he crashed on the final corner on lap three in the very slippery conditions.

Earlier Talmacsi had crashed while in fourth place of the first part that was stopped when rain began to fall.

Red Bull KTM riders have now won four of the eight races held so far in the 125cc world championship.

JULIAN SIMON #60 - First - Championship: 6th/ 80 points
“I have dreamt all my life for this moment and now it has come true, it is difficult to believe. All season I have expected to be on the podium and to win here at Donington, which is one of my favourite tracks, is an incredible feeling. The track was very slippery and I tried to make sure that I finished the race without crashing. At the end I was able to pull out a small gap over Di Meglio.”

MIKA KALLIO #36 - Seventh - Championship: =4th/ 91 points
“The conditions were crazy, there was hardly any grip and even with a just a little throttle the rear tyre would start sliding. At the start of the second race there was a problem with the spark plug on my spare bike and I had to start from pit lane. In this situation seventh is not a bad result and OK for me in the championship.”

GABOR TALMACSI #1- DNF - Championship: =1st/ 100 points
“In my first crash I lost the front, it was raining heavily and I had a lot of gravel everywhere and I couldn’t see very well. I picked up the bike and started to push to make up positions but just had too much throttle at the final corner and crashed again. It was a very difficult race and I’m not happy, I had a good chance to win today.”

HARALD BARTOL - Technical and Managing Director
“A great win by Julian, he rode very well and deserved this victory. Mika also rode very well after we fixed a small problem with his bike just before the start. The conditions were very difficult, it was pity for Gabor that he crashed from the lead.”

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