Bushiee46
22-04-2007, 14:57
Simone Corsi grabbed his maiden 125cc world championship win in the Turkish Grand Prix, barging past Joan Olive to take the lead at the final corner and claim victory.
The 20-year-old Italian, riding a Skilled Racing Aprilia, and Spaniard Olive, on a Polaris World-run machine, broke clear of the chasing pack with two laps to go and crossed the line less than a tenth of a second apart.
"I can't believe it's true," said Corsi. I'm just delighted, what a perfect weekend. I got away well and was among the front group all race.
"When Joan started to get away I worked hard top get him back and then got him at the end. The bike was perfect all race so a big thank you to the whole team."
Corsi led into the first corner having made the best start from third on the grid, but he was quickly jumped by pole-sitter Mattia Pasini, who barged his way into first at turn six.
But his advantage was to be short-lived as the chain on his Polaris World Aprilia came off on lap three, dropping him to 30th by the time he had re-attached it. Despite a charge back up to 15th, his race was ended on the final lap when the same part snapped.
Pasini's departure left a seven-bike battle for the lead with Corsi, Olive, the Aspar Aprilias of Hector Faubel and Gabor Talmacsi, Raffaele de Rosa's Multimedia Aprilia, Lukas Pesek's Seedoft Derbi and Tomoyoshi Koyama's KTM all swapping places on a lap-by-lap basis.
Time after time the pack was seen entering the final complex of corners four and five abreast, and it was just such a move that saw Koyama snatch third place on the final lap as he went through the middle of de Rosa and Talmacsi, who finished fourth and fifth.
For Hungarian Talmacsi, it was the worst result of his season, but still saw him increase his championship lead to nine points over Faubel, who dropped back to finish tenth after de Rosa pushed him off the circuit with two laps to go, leaving his bike handling badly.
There was another almighty battle for sixth through the final corners, with Pesek demoting Britain's Bradley Smith, who had ridden the best race of his career to latch onto the back of the pack after starting 13th.
That allowed the Czech to claim the place with Sicilia Aprilia rider Lorenzo Zanetti following him through on the line as Smith was forced to back off to stay on his Repsol Honda.
Andrea Iannone's Blusens Aprilia and Faubel completed the top ten.
But further down there was more good news for Britain as Kev Coghlan and Danny Webb finished world championship races for the first time in 21st and 23rd.
Race Results:
1 S. Corsi (ITA) Aprilia 00:00.100
2 J. Olive (ESP) Aprilia 00:00.200
3 T. Koyama (JPN) KTM 00:00.300
4 R. De Rosa (ITA) Aprilia 00:00.400
5 G. Talmacsi (HUN) Aprilia 00:00.500
6 L. Pesek (CZE) Derbi 00:00.600
7 L. Zanetti (ITA) Aprilia Team Sicilia 00:00.700
8 B. Smith (GBR) Honda 00:00.800
9 A. Iannone (ITA) Aprilia WTR 00:00.900
10 H. Faubel (ESP) Aprilia 00:01.000
11 P. Espargaro (ESP) Aprilia Belson Camp 00:02.000
12 M. Ranseder (AUT) Honda 00:03.000
13 P. Nieto (ESP) Aprilia Blusens 00:04.000
14 E. Rabat (ESP) Honda 00:05.000
15 R. Krummenacher (CHE) KTM 00:06.000
The 20-year-old Italian, riding a Skilled Racing Aprilia, and Spaniard Olive, on a Polaris World-run machine, broke clear of the chasing pack with two laps to go and crossed the line less than a tenth of a second apart.
"I can't believe it's true," said Corsi. I'm just delighted, what a perfect weekend. I got away well and was among the front group all race.
"When Joan started to get away I worked hard top get him back and then got him at the end. The bike was perfect all race so a big thank you to the whole team."
Corsi led into the first corner having made the best start from third on the grid, but he was quickly jumped by pole-sitter Mattia Pasini, who barged his way into first at turn six.
But his advantage was to be short-lived as the chain on his Polaris World Aprilia came off on lap three, dropping him to 30th by the time he had re-attached it. Despite a charge back up to 15th, his race was ended on the final lap when the same part snapped.
Pasini's departure left a seven-bike battle for the lead with Corsi, Olive, the Aspar Aprilias of Hector Faubel and Gabor Talmacsi, Raffaele de Rosa's Multimedia Aprilia, Lukas Pesek's Seedoft Derbi and Tomoyoshi Koyama's KTM all swapping places on a lap-by-lap basis.
Time after time the pack was seen entering the final complex of corners four and five abreast, and it was just such a move that saw Koyama snatch third place on the final lap as he went through the middle of de Rosa and Talmacsi, who finished fourth and fifth.
For Hungarian Talmacsi, it was the worst result of his season, but still saw him increase his championship lead to nine points over Faubel, who dropped back to finish tenth after de Rosa pushed him off the circuit with two laps to go, leaving his bike handling badly.
There was another almighty battle for sixth through the final corners, with Pesek demoting Britain's Bradley Smith, who had ridden the best race of his career to latch onto the back of the pack after starting 13th.
That allowed the Czech to claim the place with Sicilia Aprilia rider Lorenzo Zanetti following him through on the line as Smith was forced to back off to stay on his Repsol Honda.
Andrea Iannone's Blusens Aprilia and Faubel completed the top ten.
But further down there was more good news for Britain as Kev Coghlan and Danny Webb finished world championship races for the first time in 21st and 23rd.
Race Results:
1 S. Corsi (ITA) Aprilia 00:00.100
2 J. Olive (ESP) Aprilia 00:00.200
3 T. Koyama (JPN) KTM 00:00.300
4 R. De Rosa (ITA) Aprilia 00:00.400
5 G. Talmacsi (HUN) Aprilia 00:00.500
6 L. Pesek (CZE) Derbi 00:00.600
7 L. Zanetti (ITA) Aprilia Team Sicilia 00:00.700
8 B. Smith (GBR) Honda 00:00.800
9 A. Iannone (ITA) Aprilia WTR 00:00.900
10 H. Faubel (ESP) Aprilia 00:01.000
11 P. Espargaro (ESP) Aprilia Belson Camp 00:02.000
12 M. Ranseder (AUT) Honda 00:03.000
13 P. Nieto (ESP) Aprilia Blusens 00:04.000
14 E. Rabat (ESP) Honda 00:05.000
15 R. Krummenacher (CHE) KTM 00:06.000