Iveco Australian Grand Prix
Casey Stoner won for the third successive year at Phillip Island, with championship leader Valentino Rossi finishing second as Jorge Lorenzo crashed out on turn one at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix. At the finish line, Stoner led Rossi by a slender margin of 1.935s. Stoner in his second Grand Prix back after a three-race absence, celebrated his 24th birthday weekend with an impressive win from pole position, his third race victory of the season, which took him to third in the championship standings. A frustrating weekend for Jorge Lorenzo was compounded when the Spaniard crashed out at turn one of the first lap after touching bikes with Stoner’s Ducati Marlboro team-mate Nicky Hayden. Having struggled through the practice sessions and qualifying with both rear-grip issues and illness, Lorenzo was unable to continue after sliding off, although Hayden climbed back aboard his Desmosedici GP9 to finish 15th. Dani Pedrosa secured his first podium at the circuit in the MotoGP class but came in 22.618s adrift of Rossi, while Alex de Angelis’ fine weekend was completed with a fourth-placed classification.
In the 250cc segment, a red flag ended the action with six laps remaining, as Marco Simoncelli’s sixth win of the season
increased his chances of retaining the 250cc World Championship title. He narrowed the gap on Hiroshi Aoyama to 12 points, as the Japanese rider was classified in seventh position when the race was red flagged. Roberto Locatelli’s high-side crash which resulted in him lying stricken on the track brought the action to a premature end, with Simoncelli leading. Héctor Barberá finished in second and Raffaele de Rosa in third.
Julián Simón was crowned the 2009 World Champion in the 125cc class on raceday afternoon as the Spaniard clinched victory on the final lap of the Iveco Australian Grand Prix, which brought with it the world title. A fantastic duel between Simón and his Bancaja Aspar team-mate Bradley Smith was played out, with the new title holder sealing the win and vindicating his decision to take the step down from 250cc for this season. The pair constantly exchanged positions, and in the final lap Simón pounced when Smith was forced wide in a turn.
Rossi’s second place opened his lead at the top of the championship to 38 points over Fiat Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo with two races remaining, after it had been cut down to 18 following the latter’s win last time out at Estoril. The next stop is at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit. Winning that race is all the more important for the pair.
Related posts:
Leave your response!