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Terol Takes Victory in Jerez Thriller

3 Mins read

Nico Terol coped best with the slippery conditions to win a chaotic Spanish 125cc Grand Prix at Jerez.

The Championship leader kept his head on the damp track, as countless riders behind him lost theirs, to take his second consecutive win in the 2011 season.

Terol hit the front right from the start as he outdragged pole man Sandro Cortese on the run down to turn one. The German was tentative in the early stages and ended the opening lap in fourth, behind Terol, Efren Vazquez and the fast-starting Miguel Oliveira.

The second Aspar Aprilia of Hector Faubel made progress after a slow start from the front row. After demoting Cortese to fifth, the Spaniard fought his way past Oliveira and Vazquez to take second, and began to eat into Terol's 2.7 second lead.

Oliveira's hopes of a podium finish disappeared after he suffered a nasty highside at the end of lap six, promoting Cortese who had made it back past Vazquez.

By this time Faubel was right with his teammate at the front and made his move at the Dry Sac hairpin. With the Aspar teammates squabbling, Cortese was beginning to close. Terol re-passed Faubel in an attempt to make a break.

With heavy rain falling again, Cortese came under pressure from Johann Zarco, Vazquez and a charging Maverick Vinales. In the space of two laps, the 16-year-old rookie scythed his way past all three riders to take third, but a collision on his way past Vazquez seemed to damage a gear lever on the Aprilia and sent him into retirement.

At least he was having a better time than his Pev-Blusens-SMX-Paris-Hilton teammate Sergio Gadea. The experienced Spaniard struggled for pace and fell behind the flying Brits Danny Kent and Taylor Mackenzie.

The fun and games continued at the front as Faubel retook the lead on lap 17. Vazquez was now in the dreaded third place, and become the latest rider to crash out, promoting Cortese. The German couldn't hang on the final podium position either as he slid off moments later.

Terol made the decisive move with a lap and a half remaining and Faubel threw away Aspar's hopes of a 1-2 by sliding off the track on the final lap, leaving his teammate free to coast home to victory.

Jonas Folger emerged through the chaos to take second with Johann Zarco claiming his first ever podium finish in Grand Prix racing.

Danny Kent and Taylor Mackenzie produced stunning rides to take fourth and fifth respectively as they benefitted from the fallers in front. Cortese recovered back up to sixth, with Vazquez taking ninth. Faubel's fall proved the most expensive as he dropped to 11th.

Danny Webb looked on course to collect the first points for Mahindra as he followed Mackenzie through the field. But the Brit joined the lengthy list of retirements on lap 11, and that honour instead went to Marcel Schrotter who finished 13th. Harry Stafford kept his nose clean to finish 18th.

Race Result: 23 Laps

Pos Rider Team Time/Gap Points
1 Nico Terol Bankia Aspar Team 44:50.646 25
2 Jonas Folger Red Bull Ajo MotorSport +17.446 20
3 Johann Zarco Avant-AirAsia-Ajo +23.955 16
4 Danny Kent Red Bull Ajo MotorSport +32.883 13
5 Taylor Mackenzie Phonica Racing +34.713 11
6 Sandro Cortese Intact-Racing Team Germany +51.515 10
7 Jakub Kornfeil Ongetta-Centro-Seta +54.920 9
8 Hiroki Ono Caretta Technology Forward Team +1:00.164 8
9 Efren Vazquez Avant-AirAsia-Ajo +1:00.286 7
10 Zulfahmi Khairuddin AirAsia-Sic-Ajo +1:00.399 6
11 Hector Faubel Bankia Aspar Team +1:00.760 5
12 Adrian Martin Bankia Aspar Team +1:07.739 4
13 Marcel Schrotter Mahindra Racing +1:19.710 3
14 Louis Rossi Matteoni Racing +1:21.812 2
15 Josep Rodriguez Wild Wolf-Racc-MS +1:23.118 1
16 Alberto Moncayo Andalucía Banca Civica +1:24.040  
17 Simone Grotzkyj Phonica Racing +1:30.610  
18 Harry Stafford Ongetta-Centro-Seta +1:30.952  
19 Alessandro Tonucci Team Italia FMI +1:55.354  
20 Luigi Morciano Team Italia FMI +1 Lap  
21 Daniel Ruiz Larresport +1 Lap  
22 Daniel Kaertheininger Caretta Technology Forward Team +1 Lap  
23 Joan Perello Matteoni Racing +1 Lap  
24 Kevin Hanus Team Hanusch +2 Laps  
NC Maverick Vinales Pev-Blusens-SMX-Paris-Hilton +8 Laps  
NC Sergio Gadea Pev-Blusens-SMX-Paris-Hilton +8 Laps  
NC Jasper Iwema Ongetta-Abbink-Metaal +8 Laps  
NC Francesco Mauriello WTR-Ten10 Racing +10 Laps  
NC Danny Webb Mahindra Racing +13 Laps  
NC Luis Salom RW Racing GP +14 Laps  
NC Giulian Pedone Phonica Racing +15 Laps  
NC Miguel Oliveira Andalucía Banca Civica +18 Laps  
NC Niklas Ajo TT Motion Events Racing +21 Laps  

 

Riders Championship (After Round 2: Spain)

Pos Rider Team Wins Points
1 Nico Terol Bankia Aspar Team 2 50
2 Jonas Folger Red Bull Ajo MotorSport   31
3 Sandro Cortese Intact-Racing Team Germany   30
4 Johann Zarco Avant-AirAsia-Ajo   26
5 Efren Vazquez Avant-AirAsia-Ajo   20
6 Sergio Gadea Pev-Blusens-SMX-Paris-Hilton   16
7 Danny Kent Red Bull Ajo MotorSport   16
8 Taylor Mackenzie Phonica Racing Caretta   11
9 Hector Faubel Bankia Aspar Team   10
10 Jakub Kornfeil Ongetta-Centro-Seta   9
11 Alberto Moncayo Andalucía Banca Civica   9
12 Hiroki Ono Technology Forward Team   8
13 Luis Salom RW Racing GP   8
14 Maverick Vinales Pev-Blusens-SMX-Paris-Hilton   7
15 Zulfahmi Khairuddin AirAsia-Sic-Ajo   6
16 Miguel Oliveira Andalucía Banca Civica   6
17 Adrian Martin Bankia Aspar Team   4
18 Jasper Iwema Ongetta-Abbink-Metaal   4
19 Marcel Schrotter Mahindra Racing   3
20 Louis Rossi Matteoni Racing   3
21 Simone Grotzkyj Phonica Racing   2
22 Josep Rodriguez Wild Wolf-Racc-MS Caretta   1
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