News

Smith secures seventh in 125gp standings

15/07/07

By David Miller

Britain's Bradley Smith consolidated his top 10 position in the 125GP world standings this morning, finishing in eighth place while riding with broken bones in left hand, knee and foot. He has jumped from ninth in the standings to seventh.

The 16-year-old Repsol Honda rider from Oxfordshire started on the outside of the front row but was shuffled backwards in the opening laps and settled into a battle with Pablo Nieto. He looked set for a ninth place until Sergio Gadea fell out of fourth on the last corner and promoted Smith up a place.

Smith was once again top Honda and surely he must now be destined for a works Aprilia or KTM ride next season. By the chequered flag, Smith had cut the gap between himself and Aprilia's Sandro Cortese from six seconds to two in just six laps.

“I am quite tired now, as we expected the race was very long, very hot and it was a very tiring experience. This was a difficult race," he said. "Depending on how you look at it finishing eighth is a good position because we almost did not race, but having qualified fourth the result is a little disappointing. 

"Not being able to keep up with the leading group was also disappointing because I felt that I should have been able to keep up with those at the front. Taking all this into account it is not a disaster but I was hoping for things to turn out better."
 
Hungarian Gabor Talmasci made the GP a one-horse race, leading from the first turn and crossing the line more than three seconds in front of second placed man Tomi Koyama with Spain's Hector Faubel in third. Aprilia's Talmasci, who had led by more than five seconds, now heads the world championship from his team-mate Faubel - but there is no love lost in that camp.

Danny Webb came home in 27th after starting in 32nd.

For a post-race interview with Bradley, click here 

Results

1 25 14 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Bancaja Aspar APRILIA 39'30.802
2 20 71 Tomoyoshi KOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 125 KTM 39'34.334
3 16 55 Hector FAUBEL SPA Bancaja Aspar APRILIA 39'34.412
4 13 24 Simone CORSI ITA Skilled Racing Team APRILIA 39'35.246
5 11 34 Randy KRUMMENACHE SWI Red Bull KTM 125 KTM 39'42.653
6 10 52 Lukas PESEK CZE Valsir Seedorf Derbi DERBI 39'42.722
7 9 11 Sandro CORTESE GER Emmi - Caffe Latte Aprilia APRILIA 39'48.073
8 8 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Repsol Honda 125cc HONDA 39'50.286
9 7 22 Pablo NIETO SPA Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 39'51.752
10 6 60 Michael RANSEDER AUT Ajo Motorsport DERBI 39'53.430
11 5 6 Joan OLIVE SPA Polaris World APRILIA 39'56.846
12 4 12 Esteve RABAT SPA Repsol Honda 125cc HONDA 39'57.898
13 3 17 Stefan BRADL GER Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 40'13.607
14 2 64 Georg FROEHLICH GER Abbink Bos Racing HONDA 40'14.305
15 1 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Kopron Team Scot HONDA 40'15.204
16 27 Stefano BIANCO ITA WTR No Alcol Team APRILIA 40'17.188
17 95 Robert MURESAN ROU Ajo Motorsport DERBI 40'24.010
18 51 Steve BONSEY USA Red Bull KTM 125 KTM 40'24.521
19 7 Alexis MASBOU FRA FFM Honda GP 125 HONDA 40'24.541
20 20 Roberto TAMBURINI ITA Team Sicilia APRILIA 40'24.689
21 77 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Multimedia Racing APRILIA 40'30.967
22 18 Nicolas TEROL SPA Valsir Seedorf Derbi DERBI 40'31.427
23 15 Federico SANDI ITA Skilled Racing Team APRILIA 40'40.730
24 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA WTR No Alcol Team APRILIA 40'46.884
25 56 Hugo VAN DEN BERG NED Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 40'49.523
26 65 Eric HUEBSCH GER Sachsenring Motorrad Unger APRILIA 40'49.638
27 99 Daniel WEBB GBR De Graaf Grand Prix HONDA 40'58.045
28 8 Lorenzo ZANETTI ITA Team Sicilia APRILIA 1 lap
29 67 Sebastien ECKNER GER Adac Sachsen Junior Team HONDA 1 lap
NOT CLASSIFIED
33 Sergio GADEA SPA Bancaja Aspar APRILIA 1 lap
37 Joey LITJENS NED De Graaf Grand Prix HONDA 2 laps
53 Simone GROTZKYJ ITA Multimedia Racing APRILIA 12 laps
75 Mattia PASINI ITA Polaris World APRILIA 16 laps
35 Raffaele DE ROSA ITA Multimedia Racing APRILIA 19 laps
66 Patrick UNGER GER Sachsenring Motorrad Unger APRILIA 26 laps
44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Belson Campetella Aprilia APRILIA 26 laps 

For a full race report and results, get your copy of BikeSport News, on sale July 24