A short sharp shower of rain wrecked Bradley Smith’s chance of his first ever grand prix victory in the 125 cc race at the Dutch TT in Assen this afternoon.
Seventeen year old Smith was a comfortable leader of the scheduled 22 lap ninth round of the World Championship when it started to rain on various sections of the legendary 2.830 mile circuit in North Holland.
As the conditions worsened Smith, who like all other riders was using slick tyres on his Polaris World Aprilia, crashed on lap ten. The race was immediately stopped with the red flag and the race was re-run over just five laps. With grid positions determined for the new race by the finishing position of riders on the previous lap before the red flag was shown, Smith was able to start and in pole position.
The new race was always going to be a lottery over such a short distance but at least the track was dry. Smith made another lightening start but was soon involved in an amazing ten rider battle for the lead. Despite a massive effort racing into the final chicane, Smith could only finish in fifth place with World Champion Gabor Talmacsi securing his first win of the season in a race in which the first eight riders were separated by less than one-second.
“I’m so disappointed because everything was going so well,” explained Smith. “I made a great start and was very comfortable at the front until the rain started to fall on my visor. It got worst and down I went and out came the red flag. The second race was always going to be tough and I really made a big effort in the final chicane but in the end I had to settle for fifth. At least I’m back among the leaders but that first win was so so close.”
Just six days after his British Grand Prix triumph it was an equally frustrating day for 15 year old Scott Redding. The exhaust valve broke on his Blusens Aprilia in the first race and he unable to take part in the five lap sprint.
Ulsterman Eugene Laverty put in another gutsy show in the 250 cc race won by Alvaro Bautista but finished just out of the points in 16th place.
Toseland Battles Back to Ninth Just six days ago 27 year old James Toseland left Donington Park in tears after his crash on the first bend of the MotoGP race. This afternoon he fought back to finish ninth in the dramatic 26 lap MotoGP race.
It’s been a tough weekend for the Yorkshiremen as he struggled with his Tech 3 Yamaha team to find a good race set-up.
“We’re having a bit of a tough period at the moment,” said Toseland. “We tried something totally different with the bike here today and although it wasn’t quite right, we are starting to make headway. We were back in the top ten, which is important, but I’ve still got a lot of work to do.
“I apologise to the fans because I know it must be frustrating to watch but I am committed to working my hardest to continue to improve and get the bike to where we need to be. It hasn’t helped that we’ve had changeable weather at the last two events either because we have such a short space of time to get the bike right. “
First Lap Drams Blows Championship Wide OpenThe MotoGP World Championship was blown wide open by two big events on the very first lap of the 26 lap MotoGP race.
First Championship leader Valentino Rossi crashed bringing down Frenchman Randy De Puniet on just the third turn of the race.
Secondly World Champion Casey Stoner took the lead going into the final chicane at the end of the first lap and the World Champion and his Marlboro Ducati were never seen again by the remainder of the field as he secured his second grand prix win in the space of six days.
Rossi remounted his Fiat Yamaha to finish11th but he lost his World Championship lead. Spaniard Dani Pedrosa’s second place on the Repsol Honda was enough for him to take over at the front by just four points from Rossi but it’s Stoner who is making real progress.
The 22 year old Australian trails Pedrosa by just 29 points at the half way stage of the season and is right back in the hunt.
The drama continued right to the chequered flag with Colin Edwards grabbing third place from Nicky Hayden on the line when the former World Champion’s Honda expired on the line.
Results:1. 1 Casey STONER - AUS - DUCATI 42'12.337
2. 2 Dani PEDROSA - SPA - HONDA 42'23.647
3. 5 Colin EDWARDS - USA - YAMAHA 42'29.462
4. 69 Nicky HAYDEN - USA - HONDA 42'32.814
5. 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO - ITA - HONDA 42'39.683
6. 48 Jorge LORENZO - SPA - YAMAHA 42'40.945
7. 7 Chris VERMEULEN - AUS - SUZUKI 42'44.667
8. 56 Shinya NAKANO - JPN - HONDA 42'47.229
Championship positions:1. PEDROSA Dani 171
2. ROSSI Valentino 167
3. STONER Casey 142
4. LORENZO Jorge 114
5. EDWARDS Colin 98
6. DOVIZIOSO Andrea 79
7. HAYDEN Nicky 70
8. TOSELAND James 60
