125cc: Espargaro scores maiden win at Indy
Pol Espargaro has taken his maiden victory in an exciting 125cc Indianapolis Grand Prix
The Derbi rider, who started the 23-lap race from fourth, took the lead from fellow Spaniard Nicolas Terol (Jack&Jones Aprilia) on the penultimate lap and resisted the challenge from Aspar Aprilia's Bradley Smith.
The Briton, along with Fontana Aprilia's Simone Corsi, shot ahead of Terol on the last lap and despite then setting the fastest lap of the race, he had to be content to finish second ahead of the Italian and 12 hundredths behind Espargaro.
Smith's team-mate Julian Simon made a woeful start from pole and dropped down to tenth, but within three laps he was among the leading group in fifth position. The championship leader, too, tried to overtake Terol on the last lap but failed, so he had to settle for fifth.
KTM's Marc Marquez took sixth ahead of Stefan Bradl (Kiefer Aprilia), Joan Olive (Derbi), Takaaki Nakagami (Ongetta Aprilia) and Dominique Aegerter (Ajo Derbi).
Efren Vazquez looked able to stay with the leading pack but was handed a ride-through penalty for jump starting with his Derbi while running sixth.
Sandro Cortese dropped his Ajo Derbi on the first lap, while Esteve Rabat (Blusens Aprilia) and Johann Zarco (WTR Aprilia) crashed together on lap 18.
One lap later Randy Krummenacher lost control on the kerb at the start of the main straight, making his DeGraaf Aprilia crash and end up dangerously stranded on the racing line. It was thankfully avoided by the following riders.
CLASSIFIED:
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Pol Espargaro Derbi 42m07.925s
2. Bradley Smith Aprilia + 0.120s
3. Simone Corsi Aprilia + 0.448s
4. Nicolas Terol Aprilia + 1.613s
5. Julian Simon Aprilia + 1.801s
6. Marc Marquez KTM + 19.345s
7. Stefan Bradl Aprilia + 19.358s
8. Joan Olive Derbi + 25.611s
9. Takaaki Nakagami Aprilia + 29.240s
10. D.Agerter Derbi + 29.707s
11. Daniel Webb Aprilia + 30.464s
12. Jonas Folger Aprilia + 44.460s
13. Luis Salom Aprilia + 44.549s
14. Tomoyoshi Koyama Loncin + 45.328s
15. Sergio Gadea Aprilia + 45.435s
16. Michael Ranseder Aprilia + 45.479s
17. Lorenzo Zanetti Aprilia + 45.998s
18. Sandro Cortese Derbi + 53.791s
19. Cameron Beaubier KTM +1m01.179s
20. Esteve Rabat Aprilia +1m02.814s
21. Efren Vazquez Derbi +1m14.891s
22. Lukas Sembera Aprilia +1m16.320s
23. Johann Zarco Aprilia +1m31.218s
24. Luca Marconi Aprilia +1m31.569s
25. Luca Vitali Aprilia +1m51.274s
NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:
Rider Bike On lap
Andrea Iannone Aprilia 20
R.Krummenacher Aprilia 17
Scott Redding Aprilia 11
Alexis Masbou Loncin 7
Ben Young Aprilia 3
Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 3
Miles Thornton Aprilia 1
FASTEST LAP: Smith, 1m49.039s on lap 23
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