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 | AndalucÃa 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 | AndalucÃa 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 | AndalucÃa 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 | AndalucÃa 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 |