For the first time this season, Valentino Rossi stood on the top step of the podium today after winning the Chinese Moto Grand Prix.
The track was still a bit damp for the start of the race, but was drying quickly, after a water-logged race for the 125cc riders, earlier in the day.
Jorge Lorenzo, who was riding with a fractured left ankle and a badly bruised right leg, stalled the bike at the start of the warm-up lap, but with a little help managed to get going to take his fourth place on the grid.
At the start, Casey Stoner led into the first corner but, pole position man Colin Edwards, reclaimed the lead in front of Stoner and Rossi.
On lap two, it was four riders abreast practically, until Edwards, Stoner and Rossi all ran wide and Dani Pedrosa snatched the lead. Rossi was hunting down Pedrosa while setting the fastest lap. Rossi took the lead back on lap six.
Colin Edwards made a mistake on lap seven and ended up rejoining in seventh place. Chris Vermeulen went out on lap eight after a clutch problem.
Marco Melandri looked impressive after overtaking Andrea Dovizioso for fifth place and Nicky Hayden on the next lap to take fourth and then on to chase down his teammate, Stoner.
It was the first time on this track for British rider James Toseland, who struggled to keep pace with the faster riders.
Halfway through the twenty-two lap race, Toseland loses another place to Shinya Nakano and Nicky Hayden goes back to seventh position.
By lap fifteen a great battle took place for fourth position between, Melandri, Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Hayden and Edwards. By the next lap, Lorenzo takes that fourth place for himself as he passes Melandri.
Hayden takes Dovizioso on lap nineteen to regain sixth position. At the front, Pedrosa started to struggle with grip and Rossi increased his lead to go on and take his first win of the year, a great race.
Here are the results;
Pos Rider Bike Tyre Gap
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 44:08.061
2. Daniel Pedrosa Honda (M) +3.890
3. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) +15.928
4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) +22.494
5. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) +26.957
6. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) +28.369
7. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) +29.780
8. Toni Elías Ducati (B) +30.225
9. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) +31.440
10. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) +35.969
11. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) +36.246
12. James Toseland Yamaha (M) +43.191
13. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) +43.442
14. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) +45.855
15. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) +46.330
16. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) +50.593
17. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) +1:05.593
Not classified
Rider Bike Tyres Gap
Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B)
250cc
The first lap saw three riders go down on the damp but drying track. Karel Abraham, Alex Baldolini and Eugene Laverty were all victims of the damp conditions.
Alex Simoncelli took the lead on lap two but had it snatched away from him on lap three by Alvaro Bautista.
Lukas Pesek is out of the race by lap four with a broken-down bike and Laverty has rejoined the race and is already in sixteenth position.
Lap five saw contact between Julian Simon, Alex Debon and Thomas Luthi and then on lap ten, the race leader Bautista, goes down as he drop his bike and slides across the track. He makes it back on track but has lost too much time to score points.
Mika Kallio was back in the lead ahead of Hector Barbera. By lap twelve Hiroshi Aoyama is up to second place ahead of Simoncelli in third with Barbera now in fifth behind Takahashi.
Kallio took the win with Aoyama in second but sadly, Takahashi had a mechanical problem on the final lap allowing Mattia Pasini to take the final step on the podium.
Here are the results;
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Mika Kallio KTM 48:12.217
2. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM + 3.238
3. Mattia Pasini Aprilia + 13.811
4. Marco Simoncelli Gilera + 18.474
5. Alex Debon Aprilia + 21.066
6. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 25.158
7. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 29.990
8. R. Wilairot Honda + 39.871
9. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia + 48.344
10. Hector Faubel Aprilia + 55.470
11. R. Locatelli Gilera + 55.832
12. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia +1:00.442
13. Eugene Laverty Aprilia +1:00.732
14. Fabrizio Lai Gilera +1:36.975
15. D.T. Pradita Yamaha +1:37.080
16. Imre Toth Aprilia +1:45.018
17. Russell Gomez Aprilia +2:13.718
NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:
Rider Bike On lap
Alex Baldolini Aprilia 14
Julian Simon KTM 5
Thomas Luthi Aprilia 5
Karel Abraham Aprilia 4
Lukas Pesek Aprilia 2
Manuel Poggiali Gilera 0
FASTEST LAP: Kallio, 2:15.834 on lap 19
125cc
It was a very wet track for the 125cc race with Bradly Smith on pole position today. Smith loses the first place position at the beginning of the race as he is passed by Andrea Iannone and then another to Gabor Talmacsi while Sergio Gadea is at the back of the pack after a mistake.
On lap six, the championship leader, Simone Corsi goes down but recovers only making it as far as the pits. On the next lap Bradley Smith goes down and is inconsolable at the disappointment of another race with no points.
Iannone and Talmacsi pulled away at the front followed by Espargaro and Di Meglio. Michael Ranseder who was running in sixth place is the next man down but rejoins the race.
Another British rider, Danny Webb goes down while in eighth place, and at the back of the pack, two more riders come off their bikes and slide into the gravel.
Lap sixteen and the final British rider, Scott Redding goes down and appears to be holding his wrist as he’s helped away.
With only two laps left to go, Di Meglio takes Gabor Talmacsi for second place. Iannone wins the race.
Here are the results;
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Andrea Iannone Aprilia 46:02.275
2. Mike Di Meglio Derbi + 3.355
3. Gabor Talmacsi Aprilia + 3.451
4. Pol Espargaro Derbi + 14.028
5. Stefan Bradl Aprilia + 23.853
6. Joan Olive Derbi + 31.962
7. Michael Ranseder Aprilia + 33.758
8. Nicolas Terol Aprilia + 34.696
9. Raffaele De Rosa KTM + 34.838
10. Efren Vazquez Aprilia + 41.011
11. Esteve Rabat KTM + 41.139
12. Marc Marquez KTM + 43.677
13. Tomoyoshi Koyama KTM + 53.489
14. Steve Bonsey Aprilia + 54.462
15. Pere Tutusaus Aprilia + 58.706
16. Sandro Cortese Aprilia + 59.454
17. D. Agerter Derbi +1:10.704
18. Louis Rossi Honda +1:47.918
19. H. van den Berg Aprilia +1:50.406
NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:
Rider Bike On lap
R. Krummenacher KTM 16
Scott Redding Aprilia 15
Lorenzo Zanetti KTM 11
Daniel Webb Aprilia 10
Robert Muresan Aprilia 9
Alexis Masbou Loncin 9
Robin Lasser Aprilia 7
R. Lacalendola Aprilia 7
Bradley Smith Aprilia 6
Simone Corsi Aprilia 5
Takaaki Nakagami Aprilia 4
Sergio Gadea Aprilia 1
FASTEST LAP: Ranseder, 2:23.432 on lap 19
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