The time of the race was different to normal -2.30pm local time- but the action in the 125cc Portuguese Grand Prix was as exciting as ever on Sunday afternoon. The tight field always gives plenty of overtaking, ut there was particular pride at stake for the Spanish riders in what is effectively a ‘home race.’ Simón, Márquez and Terol were all involved after a front row start, but the win went to Pol Espargaró as he edged out Sandro Cortese and Bradley Smith.
Smith’s podium finish was unexpected after a tough start to his weekend. He fell on Friday in practice and faced a race against time to find a setting for the Estoril round. He found it on Saturday, and seemed to be at home with the Aprilia throughout the Sunday race. His worked nearly seemed to be for nothing when he came close to crashing as part of Terol’s fall, but Smith kept a cool head in the lap six incident. He was in the running for the victory, but a decisive last lap left him settling for third place and another podium for his 2009 tally. He moves up to second in the standings.
Sergio Gadea also surprised after a difficult qualifying session, starting from eleventh on the grid and dropping even further back when the lights went out. He then made one of the season’s best comebacks and benefitted from some crashes ahead of him to work back up to sixth place -an improvement on results from his last three races.
With one hand on the 125cc title, Julián Simón was desperate to win in front of his legion of fans. The Spaniard eventually let his will get the better of him, however, tipping his bike too far into the corner with seven laps to go. Then the leader of the race, Simón had to start all over again, working his way back to twelfth and needing to wait until Australia for his next shot at clinching the crown.
3rd Bradley Smith:
“It can is obvious that victory would have been an option had I been able to slipstream Pol, but it wasn’t to be. My plan was to stick behind him and pull out on the line, but on the last lap Sandro got in between us and closed up. I am satisfied with the result, especially on a day in which so many other guys fell. I was lucky not to go down when Terol crashed. I had a good pace, even though we had lost a lot of time on day one with the crash in practice, so I owe a lot to the team for their work this weekend. They were speedy in preparing the bike to perfection for m despite the time constraints. We were able to finish off the weekend with a podium, which is good when you consider that Portugal is not one of my best tracks. We are a little too far from the title, but we are in a good spot to finish high up in the standings and I know that I can go well in Australia. We have taken a step forward this weekend, so I hope that this continues at Phillip Island.”
6th Sergio Gadea:
“This morning I had an engine problem in the warmup and wasn’t able to find my pace, so the start of the race was always going to be tough. I wasn’t very confident under braking, and for this reason I got passed by other riders and started drifting backwards. When I was left by myself I found a better front end feeling, which enabled my comeback. I quickly found a ’46 pace that was enough to pass a lot of riders, and I could even have finished fifth if I had managed to pass Olivé on the line. It was possible to do so, but I nearly fell when attempting it and lost the necessary ten metres that I wanted for the pass. I’m happy with the result, because we’ve had three tough races and we have responded. Sixth isn’t the best finish, but it means that we are working well and have the potential to be back up at the front.”
12th Julián Simón:
“I was up at the front all weekend, and this was a race that I wanted to win. I think that in the end I was a little too hyped up for this, and once again I learnt that you can’t take anything for granted. Fortunately we are in good form, and with a big enough cushion to keep calm in the title hunt. The crash came about because I leaned the bike further than I should have with the brakes on, which took out the front. It would have been great to have won both the race and the title here, but fifty points is still a big enough advantage and we have to stay positive. I will be a lot more at ease in Australia, so as to avoid any more shocks. We will keep working like we have done so far, trying to have a perfect race rather than riding for the championship. I’m hurt to have let down my fans, but at least they were able to see what a fighter I am today for getting back up and finishing the race in the points.”
