The San Marino round of the 250cc World Championship went almost according to the script on Sunday afternoon, under Mediterranean sunshine as the championship heated up. For the third consecutive race the Italians took the early advantage to form part of the head group, which took time in being split. A fall for Marco Simoncelli left Héctor Barberá as the Spanish leader, ahead of local hero Mattia Pasini. Third place went to Álvaro Bautista, who had to overtake title rival Hiroshi Aoyama for the final podium spot.
Third pace in Indianapolis last weekend was a disappointment for Álvaro Bautista, but the same result at Misano left the Mapfre man elated. A slow start was all that stopped him from fighting for the win, as he rode at the same pace as the leading riders all the way. With Simoncelli out of the race, Aoyama became his principal focus ahead, and the Spaniard managed to chase down his Japanese rival for a photo finish given to him by just six thousandths of a second. With that, Bautista took his fifth podium from as many races and cut the gap between himself and Aoyama in the standings by three points. He is now much more confident and has regained his aggression, something that he hopes will aid his cause in the upcoming rounds.
Mike di Meglio played the part of the perfect teammate in Misano, starting from fifth on the grid and maintaining the place when he passed the chequered flag. Along the way he attempted to split teammate Bautista and his rival Aoyama and aid the team’s challenge for the 250cc World Title. He lost places at the start, but was once again able to knuckle down and make a comeback against his fellow competitors. Always lurking behind the trailing two, he was unable to make a decisive overtaking move and in the end was just off the rostrum, a target that he has set for the next race in Portugal.
After claiming two points in Brno and coming within a hair of repeating the feat at Indianapolis, Balázs Nemeth was motivated for the Misano race. He continued his steady progression in the 250cc class and established his goal as a perfect record of points-scoring finishes from the remaining four races of the season. A collision with another rider made things tough early on for the Hungarian rider at the start, and he came back up through the field only to encounter a second problem when avoiding another rider’s crash. The Balatonring man once again made his comeback, finding his braking points and perfecting his lines in order to up the pace. The icing on the cake was a last lap overtaking move that took him to fifteenth in the race, adding a further point to his tally for the season.
The riders now have a long break before returning to action at the Estoril circuit in early October, with the title still up for grabs.
3rd Álvaro Bautista:
“Obviously I started the race thinking that I could be up there at the front. Simoncelli fell halfway through the race, but at the same time my rear wheel was giving me problems and starting to slide about a lot. When I saw Di Meglio and Aoyama ahead I decided not to settle for the place that I was in, so my goal was to overtake them if possible. I fought hard for it, and it was a tough battle because Aoyama was racing each corner as if it were the last lap. We showed that we wouldn’t back down, that we are strong and willing to take risks too, and that we wanted to win. We have cut three points off the leadership advantage, which is a small amount but helpful in morale for the team and myself. From now on the key is going to be winning and continuing to earn more points than Aoyama, at one hundred percent at all times. I think that this month off is going to be good for me to disconnect and return stronger and more refreshed in Portugal.”
5th Mike Di Meglio:
“It was a fabulous race -it’s been a while since I had so much fun riding. Once again I had a bad start, which is something that I definitely need to improve, so I knew that I’d have to fight to regain places. The result is a product of all our good work over the weekend. I had a problem with the gears early on in the race, and as I tried to up the revs the bike kept on cutting out. On one occasion I had the gas fully twisted and the rear gave me a big reaction that nearly threw me off. I came back little by little, getting my hands dirty to start fighting. I saw that I had enough pace to reach Álvaro, and I wanted to be up there with him to help in the title chase if possible. I am very happy for him to have taken the podium in the end, because we both had a great race. I think that it has been a really good weekend for the team, and I hope that soon it can be me standing on the rostrum.”
15th Balázs Németh:
“I am very happy because I’m back to earning points, but also because I was able to better my times in the race. Bit by bit I am getting competitive and riding times closer to the riders ahead of me normally in the races. At the start I had some problems, because somebody ran into me and clipped my handlebars. That left me needing to cut the gas in order to avoid crashing and losing places because of it. Later on Chesaux crashed out in front of me, and I had to take evasive action which again lost me places. After two inconveniences I started to work out the best position on the Aprilia and slowly improved my pace. On some corners I found the entry braking very difficult, but I was able to find a solution to this by changing my style and it was then that I could see that points were a possibility. It was almost the end of the race when I saw Pons ahead of me and made my push, and I finally caught him on the back straight on the final lap. I am satisfied to have earned points again, especially because we consistently improved over the whole weekend.”
