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Aspar Team take Jerez one-two

In MotoGP

06 maggio 2009

Bradley Smith and Sergio Gadea take first two places in Spanish round.

A 125cc thriller at the Circuito de Jerez delighted fans at 11am on Sunday morning, with exciting battles and a first-time race winner. A gusty wind and hot temperaturas greeted the riders at the always-special race made things interesting, and it was Bradley Smith who took the win at his 50th Grand Prix. The Briton had a storming start and was able to break away after crashes for rivals Julián Simón and Andrea Iannone. He came home nearly twenty seconds ahead of any other rider. A small gearing problema gave him a late shock, but the Oxfordshire rider was able to take his first win.

Sergio Gadea placed second after a tumultuous battle for the position, beating out Marc Marquez to become the highest placing Spaniard. He passed him on the slipstream to pick up his 2009 form, following two bad races in Qatar and Japan.

Julián Simón had home disappointment after his second start from pole position, crashing out shortly after recording a new circuit record of 1'47.057. He now focuses on glory at Le Mans in two weeks time.

1st Bradley Smith: "The bike went awesome today, and I can't thank my team enough. I was able to get away and had an extremely fast pace for the whole race. In the last seven laps I had a fifth gear problem that cut the advantage, but I knew how to bring the bike home for the win. Iannone, Simón and I had the best pace over the weekend, and I knew that if nothing strange happened I would out in front alone. I want to thank the entire team for their work since I joined, and it is so satisfying to see that our hard winter work has paid off. "

2nd Sergio Gadea: "It means a lot to me to take the podium at Jerez, in front of the home fans. After such a bad year, I want to dedicate this result to my family and my girlfriend and thank the team for sticking with me for another season. We made some changes and improved tremendously, with a bike that could really push. I am very satisfied with the performance of the engine, which is something that the team has been working on. I wanted to push even more, knowing that I could be faster than Marquez, but I had a small scare that didn't so much make me nervous as let me know that slipstreaming him would be the best option."

Julián Simón (DNF): "It was a pity to have crashed out, because I was riding fast. I had a bad start once again, meaning that I had to come back during the opening laps. We had some very fast times, and I think that I would have been able to have caught up with Smith after Iannone had crashed. Races are like this; I think that I got a little bit too excited about riding in front of the fans in Jerez. In any case I am happy, because we are still close to the top man in the standings and are able to go to Le Mans ready for a better race."