125cc: Terol wins after Zarco penalised
Nico Terol claimed his fourth win from five races in the 125cc season after Johann Zarco was adjudged to have illegally overtaken the championship leader on the run to the flag
The duo's long battle had come down to a final sprint out of the last corner, during which Zarco ran wide and made contact with Terol before crossing the line ahead.
It looked like Zarco had clinched his maiden win, but race direction immediately began an investigation, and while the riders were still giving interviews in parc ferme it was announced that the Ajo Derbi rider would be given a 20-second penalty for 'illegal overtaking', dropping him to fifth and giving Terol the win after all.
The race had begun on a slightly damp track, although only a handful of midfield riders chose to use wet tyres.
After ending Terol's winning run at Le Mans, Maverick Vinales took the fight to him again early on, and briefly pulled away in the lead, to the delight of his Blusens team's sponsor Paris Hilton, who is present this weekend.
But as Terol (Aspar Aprilia) reeled Vinales in, Zarco started catching them both to make it a three-way fight.
Vinales was eventually shuffled down to third and then dropped by the other two as they raised their pace.
Terol gave Zarco an easy pass with three laps to go, then stuck behind him and retaliated as they started the final lap. The points leader than tried to make a break, only for Zarco to attack again out of the last corner, cutting to the inside for a drag race to the flag.
Both ran slightly wide and off the track, making contact as they did so. Terol came off second-best, to the chagrin of the vocal Spanish crowd, but he was swiftly given victory after all.
That also elevated Vinales to second, and meant Jonas Folger earned a podium by winning a tight battle with Sandro Cortese and Efren Vazquez for fourth on the road.
Hector Faubel had spent much of the race dicing with Folger until he went off at Turn 1 following a close call between them. He fell to eighth and only managed to regain one position.
Results - 22 laps: Pos Rider Team/Bike Time/Gap 1. Nicolas Terol Aspar Aprilia 42m29.647s 2. Maverick Vinales Blusens Aprilia + 10.356s 3. Jonas Folger Ajo Aprilia + 15.260s 4. Sandro Cortese Germany Aprilia + 15.670s 5. Efren Vazquez Ajo Derbi + 15.942s 6. Johann Zarco Ajo Derbi + 19.758s 7. Hector Faubel Aspar Aprilia + 26.490s 8. Sergio Gadea Blusens Aprilia + 26.681s 9. Adrian Martin Aspar Aprilia + 36.134s 10. Jakub Kornfeil Ongetta Aprilia + 36.776s 11. Danny Kent Ajo Aprilia + 37.936s 12. Louis Rossi Matteoni Aprilia + 1m10.840s 13. Niklas Ajo TT Motion Aprilia + 1m11.704s 14. Alexis Masbou Caretta KTM + 1m11.798s 15. Alberto Moncayo Andalucia Aprilia + 1m15.709s 16. Marcel Schrotter Mahindra + 1m22.005s 17. Jasper Iwema Ongetta Aprilia + 1m25.457s 18. Luigi Morciano Italia FMI Aprilia + 1m25.628s 19. Sturla Fagerhaug WTR-Ten10 Aprilia + 1m55.296s 20. Francesco Mauriello WTR-Ten10 Aprilia + 1m55.382s 21. Giulian Pedone Phonica Aprilia + 1m55.488s 22. Peter Sebestyen Caretta KTM + 1 lap 23. Josep Rodriguez MS Aprilia + 1 lap 24. Kevin Hanus Hanush Honda + 1 lap 25. Simone Grotzkyj Phonica Aprilia + 1 lap 26. John McPhee KRP Aprilia + 2 laps 27. Joan Perello Matteoni Aprilia + 2 laps 28. Taylor Mackenzie Phonica Aprilia + 2 laps 29. Alessandro Tonucci Italia FMI Aprilia + 2 laps Retirements: Luis Salom RW Aprilia 16 laps Danny Webb Mahindra 0 laps Miguel Oliveira Andalucia Aprilia 0 laps Zulfahmi Khairuddin Ajo Derbi 0 laps Harry Stafford Ongetta Aprilia 0 laps
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