125cc: Marquez stretches lead with ninth win
Marc Marquez moved closer to claiming the 125cc title as he notched up his ninth victory of the season with another crushing performance at Phillip Island
Polesitter Marquez (Ajo Derbi) made it into the first corner ahead and was unstoppable thereafter, winning by a huge - by 125cc standards - six seconds. His only slip-up occurred after the chequered flag, when he managed to slide off the road on his slowing-down lap.
Marquez's title rivals Pol Espargaro (Tuenti Derbi) and Nico Terol (Aspar Aprilia) had to settle for second and third once again. By the time both escaped from the rest of the pack, Marquez was long gone, but they provided some entertainment as Terol hunted down and passed Espargaro in the middle of the race. Espargaro soon reclaimed second and pulled away, though, leaving Terol with the final step on the podium.
The result means Marquez leads Terol by 12 points and Espargaro by 17 with two rounds remaining.
Terol's team-mate Bradley Smith had got up to second for a while after a fast start. But he could not keep up with the top three, and spent the race embroiled in a superb dice with Efren Vazquez (Tuenti) and Esteve Rabat (Blusens Aprilia), which saw Vazquez sneak fourth in the end in a virtual dead-heat as they crossed the line.
Marquez's team-mate Sandro Cortese had qualified second, but tumbled down the order at the start and then crashed on the third lap.
Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap 1. Marc Marquez Derbi 38m13.008s 2. Pol Espargaro Derbi + 6.062s 3. Nicolas Terol Aprilia + 11.576s 4. Efren Vazquez Derbi + 19.032s 5. Bradley Smith Aprilia + 19.033s 6. Esteve Rabat Aprilia + 20.593s 7. Tomoyoshi Koyama Aprilia + 31.519s 8. Luis Salom Aprilia + 46.598s 9. Randy Krummenacher Aprilia + 48.730s 10. Danny Webb Aprilia + 58.456s 11. Adrian Martin Aprilia + 1m15.857s 12. Sturla Fagerhaug Aprilia + 1m19.506s 13. Marcel Schrotter Honda + 1m19.540s 14. Jakub Kornfeil Aprilia + 1m19.543s 15. Simone Grotzkyj Aprilia + 1m32.122s 16. Jasper Iwema Aprilia + 1m42.366s 17. Louis Rossi Aprilia + 1 lap 18. Joshua Hook Aprilia + 1 lap 19. Luca Marconi Aprilia + 1 lap 20. Joel Taylor Aprilia + 1 lap 21. Danny Kent Lambretta + 1 lap Retirements: Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 3 laps Sandro Cortese Derbi 2 laps Johann Zarco Aprilia 0 laps Alberto Moncayo Aprilia 0 laps
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