The 125cc French Grand Prix kicked off at 11am today, and it was clear that this was not going to be a race fought in a tight pack. Nico Terol took off like a flash from pole position -his first in the class- and went all out to establish a gap between himself and his rivals. He looked to be having things his way, but Espargaó made sure that the race did not become a solo exhibition. Behind the front two lay a close-knit group, led by Bradley Smith.
The race was a speedy one, and times on the third lap were already around the sub-’44 mark. The quickest lap was a 1’43.787. The final result was a third consecutive all-Spanish podium, with Espargaró, Terol and Márquez the men on the rostrum.
Due to his spectacular practice pace, Nico Terol had earned pole position for Sunday’s clash and seemed the likely winner of the French GP. Going for the win, he clocked the first fastest lap of the race, quickly opening up a gap. With two laps remaining he suffered a small wobble, which was enough to give the victory to Espargaró. Second for the second consecutive race is still a positive result for the Spaniard, who continues to lead the World Championship standings.
Bradley Smith also had a notable race, despite a bad start off the line. Fighting back to the podium positions, the Briton looked on course for a top three finish but, like his teammate, made a small error in the final stages of the race to place fifth. He waits eagerly for Mugello, where he won last year.
2nd Nico Terol: “I knew from the way that the weekend had been going that I had a great pace, so my goal was to start quickly and break away. I was fast right out of the garage in practice, so I did the same today, but Pol caught up and latched onto me. I was giving it everything in the middle of the race, but he stuck with me. I wanted to let him pass with eight laps remaining in order to attack later, but my tyres were in a bad way and it wasn’t possible. I tried to make a move with two laps remaining, but I entered a bit too wide. It’s a shame, because it would have bee great to see the race end with us both side-by-side. When you ride at the limit these things happen, but I am happy with the result and with the work done by my team.”
5th Bradley Smith: “I am pretty happy with the Aprilia’s performance, as I had a great feeling of total control and was able to enjoy myself like a kid right up where we should be. It’s a shame to have finished fifth after leading the trailing group for nearly the whole race. I was able to ride fast and comfortably, but the only difficulty was finding race pace. When I did, I was able to keep it up right until the end. Today I was able to see if I was able to be more aggressive when necessary and, although today it didn’t work out, I was able to do that at least. It was a disappointing end to a great race, but I’m happy with how we performed after a difficult weekend.”
