Terol maintains championship lead with second place at Motegi

Although rain was forecast for the Japanese 125cc Grand Prix, a minor miracle gave the riders a dry race. It was an almost normal race in meteological terms. On track, no sooner had the green light gone out than Vázquez and Folger had crashed into each other, allowing a breakaway for Terol and Márquez. The Spanish duo relived their battle of Misano in Motegi, pursued by Smith, Espargaró and Cortese. The remainder of the riders were far, far back. On lap nine Márquez’ push was too strong, and he broke free from Terol to win the race.

The Bancaja Aspar riders repeated their podium double from Aragón, again looking good on track. Nico Terol and Bradley Smith had clear intentions of victory at Motegi, with good performance over the weeknd’s practice sessions. Always amongst the frontrunners, it was little surprise to see them at the head of the race. Terol started from second on the grid and Smith third, but both were unable to keep up with Márquez for the duration. Terol led for seven laps and Smith was left to play catch-up after barely missing the crash on the home straight. The duo eventually came home in identical positions to their grid places: second and third, respectively, with another race in which both riders stepped onto the podium. Terol continues to lead the World Championship, with four races remaining on the calendar. Japan opens a three-race run in consecutive weekends for the MotoGP series.

2nd Nico Terol: “I knew that on the opening laps it would be essential to push hard in order to stop Marc. Before he passed me I had dropped my pace, because I saw that he was riding comfortably but I was a little on the limit. I didn’t want to push my tyres too much. I tried to stick on his tail, but he was three tenths quicker and made it too risky. From then on I concentrated on my own pace, closing in on him if he made a mistake. I gave my all and Marc was very strong today. Sticking with second place was an intelligent move today, thinking in championship terms. We have started this three-way series well here in Japan, we leave here with twenty more points and the leadership of the classification. Four races remain and they will be like four finales; we have to concentrate in order to earn as many points as possible.”

Source: Bancaja Aspar Team