125cc: Iannone charges back to 125cc win
Ongetta Aprilia rider Andrea Iannone won the Japanese round of the 125cc world championship at Motegi after charging through the field in drying conditions
Iannone started the race on pole but his decision to use slick tyres meant that by the end of lap one he was down to twelfth on a track that was just starting to show a dry line.
But as the race went on conditions improved, and Iannone charged through the field from half-distance onwards to take the lead with three laps remaining and go on to take victory.
Julian Simon finished second on his Aspar Aprilia after making a similar move through the field, though his charge began a little earlier as he was on intermediates, moving up to second on lap 10 and the lead on lap 13 before Iannone took it away with three laps remaining.
A few seconds further back were Pol Espargaro and Stefan Bradl who also made their way through the field on intermediates and slicks respectively. At one point Bradl looked like he would be the victor but his charge faded in the closing laps and he was unable to make the podium.
Sandro Cortese, Joan Olive, Jonas Folger, Dominic Aegerter and Bradley Smith completed the top ten finishers, Smith recovering from a highside in the closing laps that broke his windscreen after his helmet slammed into it.
One place behind Smith was another Briton, Danny Webb. For the first nine laps of the race, he looked like taking the win, as he extended his gap out lap by lap to over nine seconds over second after nine laps.
But as the track dried his wet tyres crumbled, and four laps later he was out of the lead as he began his slide down the order, finishing the race nearly 40 seconds behind the winner.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Andrea Iannone Aprilia 42:23.716
2. Julian Simon Aprilia + 1.346
3. Pol Espargaro Derbi + 5.039
4. Stefan Bradl Aprilia + 6.904
5. Marc Marquez KTM + 13.061
6. Sandro Cortese Derbi + 14.841
7. Joan Olive Derbi + 16.420
8. Jonas Folger Aprilia + 16.483
9. Dominique Aegerter Derbi + 27.500
10. Bradley Smith Aprilia + 30.359
11. Danny Webb Aprilia + 37.547
12. Tomoyoshi Koyama Loncin + 43.856
13. Esteve Rabat Aprilia + 59.889
14. Lorenzo Zanetti Aprilia +1:00.141
15. Simone Corsi Aprilia +1:02.601
16. Cameron Beaubier KTM +1:02.609
17. Nicolas Terol Aprilia +1:09.867
18. Randy Krummenacher Aprilia +1:09.883
19. Sergio Gadea Aprilia +1:15.049
20. Takaaki Nakagami Aprilia +1:19.858
21. Alexis Masbou Loncin +1:43.413
22. Efren Vazquez Derbi +1:52.910
23. Lukas Sembera Aprilia +2:07.124
24. Yuuichi Yanagisawa Honda +2:07.402
25. Luca Marconi Aprilia + 1 lap
26. Luca Vitali Aprilia + 1 lap
27. Hiroomi Iwata Honda + 1 lap
28. Satoru Kamada Honda + 1 lap
29. Yuki Oogane Honda + 2 laps
Retirements:
Rider Bike Laps
Yuma Yahagi Honda 11
Johann Zarco Aprilia 10
Scott Redding Aprilia 6
Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 2
Jasper Iwema Honda 0
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