Bushiee46
22-04-2007, 14:54
Andrea Dovizioso barged past Jorge Lorenzo with two corners to go to win a sensational 250cc Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park.
The 21-year-old Italian, who had grabbed second from Alvaro Bautista at the start of the last lap, closed in on world champion Lorenzo down the backstraight, keeping in the Fortuna Aprilia rider"s slipstream so as to give himself a chance for a move.
He then stuck the nose of his Team Scot Honda down the inside of Lorenzo's machine and somehow held on to take his third 250cc win - and his first of the season - by 0.103 seconds, despite missing the apex of both of the last two turns.
Dovizioso said: "It's really good, really important. Wow. Today the race was so fast, but with good fighting and some touching. To get the win is unbelievable. The championship starts here for us."
After starting from pole position, Dovizioso led away from the start and quickly became engrossed in a hotly-contested battle with Alvaro Bautista's Aspar Aprilia, which saw the pair swap top spots on no less than four occasions during the first half of the race.
After a bad start dropped him to seventh at the first corner, Lorenzo moved up to fourth by the end of lap one when first Thomas Luthi and then Marco Simoncelli both went off onto the grass at the same corner.
He joined the lead battle at half-distance and spent a total of three laps in front before resisting a final-corner effort from Aspar Aprilia rider Bautista to finish second and increase his championship lead to 18 points over new second-place man Dovizioso.
Bautista's team-mate Alex de Angelis had a quiet race to fourth – one spot ahead of Luthi on his Emmi Aprilia.
Sixth, and finishing a 250cc race for the first time, was Mika Kallio on a KTM, who held off Julian Simon's Repsol Honda and the hugely disappointing Toth Aprilia of Hector Barbera, who was almost 50 seconds behind the winner by the finish.
Simoncelli finished ninth, which marked a good recovery for the Italian Gilera rider, who crashed on lap seven but re-mounted.
Fabrizio Lai took tenth - the best finish of his career – on a Campetella Aprilia, while both Hiroshi Aoyama and Anthony West crashed out on their KTM and Sicilia Aprilia.
Irishman Eugene Laverty got as high as 11th on his LCR Honda but eventually finished 17th and last after running into mechanical problems on his bike.
Race Results:
1 A. Dovizioso (ITA) Honda 00:00.000
2 J. Lorenzo (ESP) Aprilia Fortuna 00:00.103
3 Á. Bautista (ESP) Aprilia 00:00.318
4 A. De Angelis (SMR) Aprilia 00:04.894
5 T. Lüthi (CHE) Honda 00:19.755
6 M. Kallio (FIN) KTM 00:22.946
7 J. Simon (ESP) Honda 00:23.283
8 H. Barbera (ESP) Aprilia Team Toth 00:47.678
9 M. Simoncelli (ITA) Gilera 00:58.482
10 F. Lai (ITA) Aprilia 00:58.734
11 A. Espargaro (ESP) Aprilia Blusens 01:08.588
12 K. Abraham (CZE) Aprilia 01:09.032
13 D. Heidolf (DEU) Honda 01:10.005
14 A. Baldolini (ITA) Honda 01:14.504
15 R. Wilairot (THA) Thai Honda 01:17.732
16 S. Aoyama (JPN) Honda 01:28.469
17 E. Laverty (IRL) Honda LCR 01:49.828
The 21-year-old Italian, who had grabbed second from Alvaro Bautista at the start of the last lap, closed in on world champion Lorenzo down the backstraight, keeping in the Fortuna Aprilia rider"s slipstream so as to give himself a chance for a move.
He then stuck the nose of his Team Scot Honda down the inside of Lorenzo's machine and somehow held on to take his third 250cc win - and his first of the season - by 0.103 seconds, despite missing the apex of both of the last two turns.
Dovizioso said: "It's really good, really important. Wow. Today the race was so fast, but with good fighting and some touching. To get the win is unbelievable. The championship starts here for us."
After starting from pole position, Dovizioso led away from the start and quickly became engrossed in a hotly-contested battle with Alvaro Bautista's Aspar Aprilia, which saw the pair swap top spots on no less than four occasions during the first half of the race.
After a bad start dropped him to seventh at the first corner, Lorenzo moved up to fourth by the end of lap one when first Thomas Luthi and then Marco Simoncelli both went off onto the grass at the same corner.
He joined the lead battle at half-distance and spent a total of three laps in front before resisting a final-corner effort from Aspar Aprilia rider Bautista to finish second and increase his championship lead to 18 points over new second-place man Dovizioso.
Bautista's team-mate Alex de Angelis had a quiet race to fourth – one spot ahead of Luthi on his Emmi Aprilia.
Sixth, and finishing a 250cc race for the first time, was Mika Kallio on a KTM, who held off Julian Simon's Repsol Honda and the hugely disappointing Toth Aprilia of Hector Barbera, who was almost 50 seconds behind the winner by the finish.
Simoncelli finished ninth, which marked a good recovery for the Italian Gilera rider, who crashed on lap seven but re-mounted.
Fabrizio Lai took tenth - the best finish of his career – on a Campetella Aprilia, while both Hiroshi Aoyama and Anthony West crashed out on their KTM and Sicilia Aprilia.
Irishman Eugene Laverty got as high as 11th on his LCR Honda but eventually finished 17th and last after running into mechanical problems on his bike.
Race Results:
1 A. Dovizioso (ITA) Honda 00:00.000
2 J. Lorenzo (ESP) Aprilia Fortuna 00:00.103
3 Á. Bautista (ESP) Aprilia 00:00.318
4 A. De Angelis (SMR) Aprilia 00:04.894
5 T. Lüthi (CHE) Honda 00:19.755
6 M. Kallio (FIN) KTM 00:22.946
7 J. Simon (ESP) Honda 00:23.283
8 H. Barbera (ESP) Aprilia Team Toth 00:47.678
9 M. Simoncelli (ITA) Gilera 00:58.482
10 F. Lai (ITA) Aprilia 00:58.734
11 A. Espargaro (ESP) Aprilia Blusens 01:08.588
12 K. Abraham (CZE) Aprilia 01:09.032
13 D. Heidolf (DEU) Honda 01:10.005
14 A. Baldolini (ITA) Honda 01:14.504
15 R. Wilairot (THA) Thai Honda 01:17.732
16 S. Aoyama (JPN) Honda 01:28.469
17 E. Laverty (IRL) Honda LCR 01:49.828