125cc: Di Meglio dominates, clinches title
Frenchman Mike di Meglio clinched the 125cc world championship with a dominant victory in the Australian Grand Prix
Di Meglio took the lead on lap two and never looked back, quickly establishing a lead over the chasing pack which he built to over ten seconds by the chequered flag.
With other results falling his way, the victory also clinched the world title.
Stefan Bradl came home a distant second after coming out ahead in a mid-race battle with Andrea Iannone, Gabor Talmacsi and Joan Olive, taking the position for good on lap 14, a lap after Joan Olive fell at Honda hairpin and dropped Bradl down to fourth as he avoided the falling Olive.
With two races remaining, Bradl is 50 points behind di Meglio and could tie di Meglio's points total and victory tally, but with only one second place to di Meglio's four, the title is the Frenchman's.
A couple of seconds behind Bradl, a close fight between Talmacsi and Iannone ended in Talmacsi's favour, retaking the podium place in the closing stages of the final lap.
The battle for fifth was even hotter, with Sandro Cortese (who fell at Honda hairpin on lap 2) riding on the grass as he battled in the group with a lap to go.
At the finish, it was Pol Espargaro who took the place ahead of Cortese and Esteve Rabat, with Marc Marquez in eighth having forced Simone Corsi onto the grass and down to ninth as they headed down the start/finish straight to the chequered flag, Corsi's title hopes now all over.
Bradley Smith threw away a tremendous opportunity to take his first win when he fell at Honda Hairpin on lap one after taking the lead at the start and looking like pulling away, Raffaele de Rosa also falling at the same time.
CLASSIFIED:
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Mike di Meglio Derbi 37:55.589
2. Stefan Bradl Aprilia + 10.255
3. Gabor Talmacsi Aprilia + 13.106
4. Andrea Iannone Aprilia + 13.149
5. Pol Espargaro Derbi + 26.796
6. Sandro Cortese Aprilia + 27.123
7. Esteve Rabat KTM + 27.181
8. Marc Marquez KTM + 27.287
9. Simone Corsi Aprilia + 27.871
10. Scott Redding Aprilia + 35.087
11. Efren Vazquez Aprilia + 57.392
12. Lorenzo Zanetti KTM + 57.413
13. Pablo Nieto KTM + 57.451
14. Joan Olive Derbi + 57.539
15. Robin Lasser Aprilia +1:06.318
16. Marco Ravaioli Aprilia +1:06.320
17. Adrian Martin Aprilia +1:42.441
18. Cyril Carrillo Honda +1:42.455
19. Enrique Jerez KTM +1:43.792
20. Jed Metcher Honda + 1 lap
21. Randy Krummenacher KTM + 2 laps
NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:
Rider Bike Laps
Bradley Smith Aprilia 21
Bastien Chesaux Aprilia 14
Sergio Gadea Aprilia 13
Stevie Bonsey Aprilia 12
Rhys Moller Honda 10
Jules Cluzel Loncin 8
Brad Gross Yamaha 8
Hugo van den Berg Aprilia 7
Robert Muresan Aprilia 2
Raffaele de Rosa KTM 2
Alexis Masbou Loncin 1
Nicolas Terol Aprilia 1
Takaaki Nakagami Aprilia 0
Dominique Aegerter Derbi 0
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