Tomoyoshi Koyama applied his never-give-up energy and passion to the 125cc race at the San Marino Grand Prix and his determination and skill put the Red Bull KTM team on the podium in third place.
The diminutive Japanese rider picked up 16 championship points for his effort and is now lying third in the season's standings. Koyama went out hard and strong in the opening laps in the wake of the front pack of riders. His determination to stick close to the group paid off when Hector Faubel and Simone Corsi collided and crashed, handing Koyama his fifth podium finish of the year. He whipped through the chequered flag just over eight seconds behind the leader.
Koyama said it had been a great race with "a happy ending for me and Red Bull KTM". He said he tried to stick with the front group in the early part of the race but they were too fast for him. Instead he opted to keep on pushing, confident that he would be able to catch them if he hung onto their tail. Then with just four laps to go things started to hot up. "Lucas Pesek crashed right in front of me, and I lost positions again," Koyama said. "There were just four laps to go in the race and I almost gave up hopes of a podium. I decided to just follow the top guys, to keep my rhythm and settle for my position. Then I saw Faubel and Simone crash in front of me and I immediately realised that this meant a podium for me." Now lying third in the standings, Koyama said he was hoping that his run of luck would stick with him, especially since he will be racing in front of his home crowd at the Japanese Grand Prix in just a few weeks.
Swiss team-mate Randy Krummenacher also put in a strong ride to be part of a big pack of riders and to finish sixth despite some problems with throttle control on his bike. Krummenacher went out on his spare bike after experiencing some difficulties in the morning warm-up session. "The set-up was good," Krummenacher said. "I only had a problem with the way the power kicked in, so I tried to concentrate on opening the throttle a little later than the others, and this worked quite well."
"What helped me a lot was my good physical condition. The others started to make mistakes but I managed to keep a consistent pace. In the end, I overtook Stefan Bradl. I went past him on the inside line in a fast right-hand corner. All in all, if we look at how everything started this weekend and where we are now, it was a great race for me!"
Dirt track ace Steve Bonsey had a great start, only to be slowed by an incident in the opening lap when another rider high-sided going into one of the tight right handed corners. "I tried to get past him on the outside line, but then I had to slow down and wait for him to slide past. That put me all the way back in last position. I lost my drive and rhythm and then I started to make mistakes." The young American came back to pass a group of tail-enders to finish twenty sixth from the finishing 32 riders.
Results 1. Mattia Pasini, Italy, Aprilia, 39:47.944
2. Gabor Talmacsi, Hungary, Aprilia, 39:52.718
3. Tomoyoshi Koyama, Japan, KTM, 39:56.520
4. Sergio Gadea, Spain, Aprilia, 40:03.763
5. Pol Espargaro, Spain, Aprilia, 40:11.916
6. Randy Krummenacher, Switzerland, KTM, 40:13.103
26. Steve Bonsey, USA, KTM, 40:53.220
Images -
Kirn F.
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