Moto2: Bautista wins eventful Misano race

The Aspar Aprilia rider started down in eleventh place but thanks to a fine run through the field and several accidents involving other top rivals, he took victory ahead of JiR Honda's Yuki Takahashi and Toth Aprilia's Hector Barbera.

The latter, starting from pole position, did not win many hearts in the crowd today, as he controversially clashed with local runners Mattia Pasini and championship leader Marco Simoncelli.

The contact with the Polaris World Aprilia rider came during a fight for the lead on lap 12 of 26, with Barbera plunged on the inside of the Italian.

Pasini, who had taken the lead just two laps earlier, crashed out as a result and was visibly angry with his rival.

Simoncelli fought with Barbera and exchanged the lead with him for the first two thirds of the race, until Bautista took the lead.

The battle then continued for second place, with Barbera pushing Simoncelli briefly out of the track on lap 22, and the two losing the position to Takahashi.

With their battle continuing for third place, but still both in with a chance for victory, Barbera and Simoncelli exchanged position twice more in the following lap, and then the Italian got revenge over the Spaniard by giving him a slight push.

But when the score between the two looked settled, Simoncelli dropped his Metis Gilera on his own and even though he rejoined the track, he could do no better than sixth at the flag.

That meant that Roberto Locatelli took fourth on the other Gilera, ahead of Julian Simon's KTM.

It wasn't a good day for the Austrian manufacturer however, as Mika Kallio crashed into the back of teammate Hiroshi Aoyama on lap four, retiring them both on the spot.

That came just one lap after Alex Debon high-sided and Hector Faubel crashes into his fellow Spaniard's bike, ending the race for both Aprilia riders.

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Rider              Bike      Time
 1.  Alvaro Bautista    Aprilia   43:15.831
 2.  Yuki Takahashi     Honda     +   2.088
 3.  Hector Barbera     Aprilia   +   3.752
 4.  R.Locatelli        Gilera    +   7.472
 5.  Julian Simon       KTM       +  10.862
 6.  Marco Simoncelli   Gilera    +  21.180
 7.  Thomas Luthi       Aprilia   +  29.440
 8.  R.Wilairot         Honda     +  33.882
 9.  Lukas Pesek        Aprilia   +  35.051
10.  Karel Abraham      Aprilia   +  45.405
11.  Fabrizio Lai       Gilera    +  47.260
12.  Federico Sandi     Aprilia   +1:10.664
13.  Manuel Hernandez   Aprilia   +1:10.882
14.  Toni Wirsing       Honda     +1:33.332
15.  S.G.Giorgi         Gilera    +   1 Lap
16.  D.T.Pradita        Yamaha    +   1 Lap

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

     Rider              Bike      Laps
     Aleix Espargaro    Aprilia   19
     Eugene Laverty     Aprilia   14
     Imre Toth          Aprilia   12
     Mattia Pasini      Aprilia   11
     Hiroshi Aoyama     KTM       3
     Mika Kallio        KTM       3
     Hector Faubel      Aprilia   2
     Alex Debon         Aprilia   2
     Alex Baldolini     Aprilia   1

FASTEST LAP: Simoncelli, 1:38.993 on lap 5