Sachsenring MotoGP: Marco Simoncelli dominated the German GP and now leads the 250 world championship

Metis Gilera rider Marco Simoncelli seized the lead in the 250GP world championship with a dominant win today in a rain-hit Sachsenring GP.

Starting from pole and gambling on running a new spec factory Gilera RSA that he’d only briefly tested in Brno recently, Simoncelli eased to victory after early resistance from Spaniard Julian Simon.

Despite a good start from Simoncelli, Simon took the lead briefly before dropping back to second, giving Simoncelli the advantage again. Simon briefly took the lead before a nerve-wracking rear tyre slide saw him lose ground and Simoncelli siezed the opportunity to pass him on the outside.

With 27 laps still to go, Lotus Aprilia rider Alex Debon lost the front on the wet track and crashed out of the race. Less than a lap later, Spaniard Hector Barbera passed Simon to take second, but at the front of the race Simoncelli started to hammer home his advantage and pull away with a growing 2 second gap.

Seven laps later, Kallio moved up to second place, putting Barbera back into third. Barbera was struggling in the tough conditions and Kallio instantly started to pull away from the Spaniard. Meanwhile Simoncelli was in imperious form at the front the race as he held a massive six second lead.

With 13 laps to go, Red Bull KTM 250 rider Aoyama suffered a highside while up at the front, Simoncelli increased the gap to 7.4 seconds.

Marco Simoncelli kept up a fantastic pace throughout the race to win for a third time in 2008, and in the process he opened up an 11-point lead on KTM rival Mika Kallio.

Hector Barbera kept the pressure on Kallio and eventually passed him to finish in second place. Alvaro Bautista finished on the podium in third, with Kallio having to settle for fourth.

1  Marco SIMONCELLI  ITA  Metis Gilera    Gilera   45’36.703  
2  Hector BARBERA   SPA  Team Toth Aprilia   Aprilia  45’38.960  
3  Alvaro BAUTISTA  SPA  Mapfre Aspar Team   Aprilia  45’39.126  
4  Mika KALLIO   FIN  Red Bull KTM 250   KTM   45’40.853  
5  Julian SIMON   SPA  Repsol KTM 250cc   KTM   45’41.549  
6  Mattia PASINI   ITA  Polaris World    Aprilia  45’44.835  
7  Thomas LUTHI   SWI  Emmi – Caffe Latte   Aprilia  46’15.005  
8  Hiroshi AOYAMA   JPN  Red Bull KTM 250   KTM   46’25.629  
9  Yuki TAKAHASHI   JPN  JiR Team Scot 250   Honda   46’26.765  
10  Roberto LOCATELLI  ITA  Metis Gilera    Gilera   46’28.373  
11  Alex BALDOLINI   ITA  Matteoni Racing   Aprilia  46’45.499  
12  Fabrizio LAI   ITA  Campetella Racing   Gilera   46’45.665  
13  Aleix ESPARGARO  SPA  Lotus Aprilia    Aprilia  46’48.054  
14  Hector FAUBEL   SPA  Mapfre Aspar Team   Aprilia  46’48.357  
15  Eugene LAVERTY   IRL  Blusens Aprilia   Aprilia  46’50.559  
16  Ratthapark WILAIROT  THA  Thai Honda PTT SAG   Honda   47’06.679  
17  Imre TOTH   HUN  Team Toth Aprilia   Aprilia  45’54.806  
18  Alen GYORFI   HUN  Motorcycle Competition Service  Honda   46’13.583  
19  Doni Tata PRADITA  INA  Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia  Yamaha   46’24.376  
20  Toni WIRSING   GER  Racing Team Germany   Honda   46’16.02