Moto2: Bautista takes 250cc victory

Bautista dropped down to eighth by the end of lap one but by half-distance was in second place and close behind leader Hiroshi Aoyama. With six laps remaining in the 23-lap even Bautista took the lead and slowly pulled away to take the win.

Aoyama finished a clear second despite a moment in the opening laps of the race. He took the lead on lap nine when early leader Marco Simoncelli, who he was closing in on, had a big moment at the final esses as he clattered over the kerbs and ran wide, allowing Aoyama through before he was caught and passed by Bautista.

Almost immediately after his moment Simoncelli slowed, his front tyre deflating. He pitted and changed the tyre, but went down a lap and ended the race in 17th place, out of the points.

Mattea Pasini completed the podium in third place a couple of seconds ahead of Gabor Talmacsi, who was involved in a three-way dice for the lead with Simoncelli and Aoyama on the opening lap before he faded slowly down the order.

Alex Debon completed the top five finishers ahead of wildcard Shuhei Aoyama who finished sixth on his Honda, joining his brother Shuhei at the front of the field.

Hector Barbera, who won the season's opening race in Qatar, had a dreadful start from fifth to complete lap one in 20th position. He climbed back up the order through the race but was only able to make it to 11th position.

Thai rider Ratthapark Wilairot looked set for a strong top-ten finish before crashing out in the closing laps and being taken away on a stretcher.

Other fallers included Hector Faubel, Mike di Meglio, Alex Pons, Roberto Locatelli and Qatar runner-up Jules Cluzel.

Pos  Rider                Bike     Time
 1.  Alvaro Bautista      Aprilia  44:06.488
 2.  Hiroshi Aoyama       Honda    +   5.889
 3.  Mattia Pasini        Aprilia  +  21.832
 4.  Gabor Talmacsi       Aprilia  +  25.906
 5.  Alex Debon           Aprilia  +  30.785
 6.  Shuhei Aoyama        Honda    +  33.788
 7.  Lukas Pesek          Aprilia  +  36.972
 8.  Thomas Luthi         Aprilia  +  41.018
 9.  Karel Abraham        Aprilia  +  41.649
10.  Shoya Tomizawa       Honda    +  52.863
11.  Hector Barbera       Aprilia  +1:00.888
12.  Raffaele de Rosa     Honda    +1:06.347
13.  Imre Toth            Aprilia  +1:53.149
14.  Kazuki Watanabe      Yamaha   +  1 lap
15.  Vladimir Leonov      Aprilia  +  1 lap
16.  Bastien Chesaux      Honda    +  1 lap
17.  Marco Simoncelli     Gilera   +  1 lap
18.  Aitor Rodriguez      Aprilia  +  1 lap

Retirements:

     Rider                Bike     Laps 
     Ratthapark Wilairot  Honda     18
     Alex Baldolini       Aprilia   17
     Hector Faubel        Honda      6
     Mike di Meglio       Aprilia    5
     Axel Pons            Aprilia    3
     Jules Cluzel         Aprilia    2
     Roberto Locatelli    Gilera     2