Bushiee46
10-03-2007, 15:16
Hector Faubel produced a perfect tactical ride to start his 125cc world championship campaign with a last-gasp victory.
After leading for most of the race, the 23-year-old Spaniard trailed his Hungarian Aspar Aprilia team-mate Gabor Talmacsi through the final lap but ducked out of the Hungarian's slipstream as they approached the finish line to grab the win by just 0.073 seconds.
Faubel said: “Things have gone perfectly, the bike has been in superb condition all weekend and it really could not have been better.”
The Spaniard's victory was the third of his career and his second in a row – adding to the one he claimed in the final race of the 2006 season. It also saw him open up an early five-point lead in the world championship over Talmacsi.
As for the Hungarian, a bad start left him chasing Faubel for the entire race. He eventually passed him heading into the final lap but was a sitting dog on the final straight after tyre problems left him struggling for grip out of the corners.
Talmacsi said: “I'm really happy for second, I tried everything but I lost the time to Faubel while fighting with someone else at the start and ruined my rear tyre.
Czech rider Lukas Pesek completed the podium on his Seedorf Derbi after spending the entire race tied together with Raffaele de Rosa, who was nevertheless delighted to take the best finish of his career in fourth on his Multimedia Aprilia.
Fifth and sixth marked good starts to the season for both Skilled Aprilia's Simone Corsi and KTM's Tomoyoshi Koyama after the pair broke clear of a four-way fight for seventh.
The battle was won by 15-year-old Spaniard Pol Espargaro on his Campetella Aprilia, who beat his compatriots Esteve Rabat (Repsol Honda) – who took the best finish of his career – Pablo Nieto (Blausens Aprilia) and Frenchman Alexis Masbou (FFM Honda).
Bradley Smith was Britain's top finisher in 12th on his Repsol Honda while his countryman Danny Webb retired.
And it was a bad start to the year for two of the expected championship campaigners as both Italian Mattia Pasini and Spaniard Sergio Gadea retired with mechanical problems on their Polaris World and Aspar Aprilias.
1 H. Faubel (ESP) Bancaja 00:00.100
2 G. Talmacsi (HUN) Bancaja 00:00.200
3 L. Pesek (CZE) Der 00:00.300
4 R. De Rosa (ITA) Aprilia 00:00.400
5 S. Corsi (ITA) Aprilia 00:00.500
6 T. Koyama (JPN) KTM 00:00.600
7 P. Espargaro (ESP) Belson 00:00.700
8 E. Rabat (ESP) Repsol 00:00.800
9 P. Nieto (ESP) Blusens Aprilia 00:00.900
10 A. Masbou (FRA) Honda 00:01.000
11 J. Olive (ESP) Polaris 00:02.000
12 B. Smith (ENG) Repsol 00:03.000
13 M. Ranseder (AUT) Honda 00:04.000
14 M. Di Meglio (FRA) Humangest 00:05.000
15 A. Iannone (ITA) WTR 00:06.000
After leading for most of the race, the 23-year-old Spaniard trailed his Hungarian Aspar Aprilia team-mate Gabor Talmacsi through the final lap but ducked out of the Hungarian's slipstream as they approached the finish line to grab the win by just 0.073 seconds.
Faubel said: “Things have gone perfectly, the bike has been in superb condition all weekend and it really could not have been better.”
The Spaniard's victory was the third of his career and his second in a row – adding to the one he claimed in the final race of the 2006 season. It also saw him open up an early five-point lead in the world championship over Talmacsi.
As for the Hungarian, a bad start left him chasing Faubel for the entire race. He eventually passed him heading into the final lap but was a sitting dog on the final straight after tyre problems left him struggling for grip out of the corners.
Talmacsi said: “I'm really happy for second, I tried everything but I lost the time to Faubel while fighting with someone else at the start and ruined my rear tyre.
Czech rider Lukas Pesek completed the podium on his Seedorf Derbi after spending the entire race tied together with Raffaele de Rosa, who was nevertheless delighted to take the best finish of his career in fourth on his Multimedia Aprilia.
Fifth and sixth marked good starts to the season for both Skilled Aprilia's Simone Corsi and KTM's Tomoyoshi Koyama after the pair broke clear of a four-way fight for seventh.
The battle was won by 15-year-old Spaniard Pol Espargaro on his Campetella Aprilia, who beat his compatriots Esteve Rabat (Repsol Honda) – who took the best finish of his career – Pablo Nieto (Blausens Aprilia) and Frenchman Alexis Masbou (FFM Honda).
Bradley Smith was Britain's top finisher in 12th on his Repsol Honda while his countryman Danny Webb retired.
And it was a bad start to the year for two of the expected championship campaigners as both Italian Mattia Pasini and Spaniard Sergio Gadea retired with mechanical problems on their Polaris World and Aspar Aprilias.
1 H. Faubel (ESP) Bancaja 00:00.100
2 G. Talmacsi (HUN) Bancaja 00:00.200
3 L. Pesek (CZE) Der 00:00.300
4 R. De Rosa (ITA) Aprilia 00:00.400
5 S. Corsi (ITA) Aprilia 00:00.500
6 T. Koyama (JPN) KTM 00:00.600
7 P. Espargaro (ESP) Belson 00:00.700
8 E. Rabat (ESP) Repsol 00:00.800
9 P. Nieto (ESP) Blusens Aprilia 00:00.900
10 A. Masbou (FRA) Honda 00:01.000
11 J. Olive (ESP) Polaris 00:02.000
12 B. Smith (ENG) Repsol 00:03.000
13 M. Ranseder (AUT) Honda 00:04.000
14 M. Di Meglio (FRA) Humangest 00:05.000
15 A. Iannone (ITA) WTR 00:06.000