125cc: Smith claims first 125cc victory

The British Aspar Aprilia rider also jumped from seventh to a very close second in the championship after both Andrea Iannone and Julian Simon - who had monopolised the leading positions in the opening two rounds - crashed out.

Smith and his team-mate Simon quickly got away from the pack at the start, while Iannone's hopes of a third straight win ended with half a lap as he slid into a low-side accident. Although the Italian rejoined, he could only finish 19th.

Simon kept the pressure on Smith for the first five laps, before he had an accident of his own - flying off the track in a dramatic high-side at a fast left-hander.

The Aprilia duo's pace had been such that they were already nine seconds clear of the rest of the field by the time Simon crashed. That meant all Smith had to do was cruise through the remaining 18 laps to clinch victory, although he extended his advantage to as much as 20s as his pursuers battled with each other.

You always try to picture your first win, but this is nothing like it," said Smith. "It's been a long time coming, but I'm glad I waited and worked hard.

"Today the bike was awesome right from the start and that's why I was able to win this race - I could do mid 1m47s right from the word go. With eight laps to go I had a problem with fifth gear and nearly crashed. I managed to work around the problem though and get to the finish."

Up to a dozen bikes fought over second place, in a dice that gave the spectators plenty of entertainment while Smith dominated.

It looked like German rookie Jonas Folger might make it onto the podium as he charged from the back of the grid following a technical failure in qualifying, but he tangled with Pol Espargaro at the final corner on the penultimate lap as he tried to grab second.

While Folger fell and Espargaro ran wide, Sergio Gadea was able to slip through to complete an Aspar one-two behind team-mate Smith, with his compatriot Marc Marquez also taking a home podium for Red Bull KTM.

Scott Redding made it two British drivers in the top four, ahead of Efren Vazquez, who claimed a career-best fifth on home ground. Sandro Cortese and the frustrated Espargaro, who had been set to take the championship lead until the incident with Folger, finished sixth and seventh.

Pos  Rider               Bike     Time
 1.  Bradley Smith       Aprilia  41m49.556s
 2.  Sergio Gadea        Aprilia  +  13.524s
 3.  Marc Marquez        KTM      +  13.553s
 4.  Scott Redding       Aprilia  +  14.251s
 5.  Efren Vazquez       Derbi    +  14.758s
 6.  Sandro Cortese      Derbi    +  15.545s
 7.  Pol Espargaro       Derbi    +  15.556s
 8.  Daniel Webb         Aprilia  +  17.772s
 9.  Dominique Aegerter  Derbi    +  18.960s
10.  Nicolas Terol       Aprilia  +  19.053s
11.  Joan Olive          Derbi    +  32.480s
12.  Esteve Rabat        Aprilia  +  32.554s
13.  Johann Zarco        Aprilia  +  33.378s
14.  Simone Corsi        Aprilia  +  41.533s
15.  Cameron Beaubier    KTM      +  44.443s
16.  Takaaki Nakagami    Aprilia  +  44.738s
17.  Randy Krummenacher  Aprilia  +  44.934s
18.  Lorenzo Zanetti     Aprilia  +  44.977s
19.  Andrea Iannone      Aprilia  +  55.464s
20.  Lukas Sembera       Aprilia  +1m05.314s
21.  Lorenzo Savadori    Aprilia  +1m07.420s
22.  Alberto Moncayo     Aprilia  +1m16.825s
23.  Luis Salom          Honda    +1m25.188s
24.  Jasper Iwema        Honda    +1m28.903s
25.  Luca Marconi        Aprilia  +1m29.012s
26.  Borja Maestro       Aprilia  +    1 lap
27.  Jordi Dalmau        Honda    +    1 lap
28.  Eduard Lopez        Aprilia  +    1 lap

Retirements:

     Jonas Folger        Aprilia  21 laps
     Tomoyoshi Koyama    Loncin   21 laps
     Alexis Masbou       Loncin   13 laps
     Luca Vitali         Aprilia  10 laps
     Stefan Bradl        Aprilia   8 laps
     Julian Simon        Aprilia   5 laps
     Michael Ranseder    Haojue    0 laps