Anatomy of a Season: Nico Terol’s way to 2nd in the 125cc world championship
There is always an air of incertainty around the first race of the year, with the winter break providing a long period of inactivity, but the curtain raiser to the year is also a fresh opportunity. Good or bad results from the previous campaign counted for nothing as the riders lined up on the grid for the Grand Prix of Qatar 2010, the opening round of the season for the fourth successive year. With questions marks still over who would be the standout riders for the season ahead, seven young men came to the fore in the desert. Just when it seemed they would battle all the way to the line, Bancaja Aspar rider Nico Terol put three fastest laps together to make his escape and lay down his title credentials.
For the first time in his career Nico headed back to Spain for the second round of the season at Jerez as a championship leader. He qualified fifth and went out to defend his position at the top of the standings any way he could, going head to head with Pol Espargaró for the win but accepting a second place finish that consolidated his positive start. For the second time in the opening two rounds the podium was dominated by Spanish riders and it already became clear that the title would most likely end up back on these shores at the end of the year.
The national anthem rung out for the third consecutive race in France as Spanish riders again took all three podium positions, with Nico again in second place after ticking another item on his ‘to do’ list – that of his first pole position. They say things come in threes and that was the case for the Bancaja Aspar two Sundays later, when he took to the second step of the podium at Mugello. After a tough fight with Espargaró at Jerez and Le Mans, the Italian visit put the top four title contenders at the head of the race (Terol, Smith, Márquez and Espargaró).
One week of rest and the series was back in business, with the first run of three back-to-back races (Great Britain, Holland and Catalonia). The new Silverstone circuit saw Terol on course for a podium, but a clash with another rider saw him drop to fourth. It was the first time in the opening six races that he had been outside the top three. At one of his favourite circuits, Assen, Marc Marquéz had emerged as a title favourite and he provided a challenge to Terol. The Aspar Team rider was the only man capable of keeping up with the Catalan, breaking a circuit record with a 1.42.428 lap, although a backmarker got in the way of the final battle, won by Márquez.
The Bancaja Aspar’s second place regained him the lead of the World Championship, something that he hadn’t held since Great Britain. At the next round in Catalonia, Márquez broke free and Nico led the best of the rest. Smith and Espargaró battled around him, and a last-lap collision was the end result for Terol. Four turns from the end, he hit the asphalt and was taken to the Hospital General de Cataluña. A bruised lung and a vertebrae fracture ruled him out of action and shaped his season.
Attempting to ride in Germany proved too ambitious a week later, and Terol returned home on the Saturday. An intense rehabilitation schedule allowed him to return to action in the Czech Republic. With two races less in his resumé, he would be playing catch-up in the World Championship.
Doubts about his condition were swept away quickly, as he placed at the sharp end of the practice timesheets and attacked from the start in the race. He was the bravest on a wet Brno track, taking his second win of the season upon his return. Winning the next race at Indianapolis was a question of honour, and he did so to close the gap further in the title hunt.
On his return to Europe he picked up second place finishes at both San Marino and Aragón, which saw him return to the top of the championship. Those who wrote off his chances at Catalunya were silenced but Nico remained true to his character: humble, quiet and consistent. As he packed his bags for overseas trips to Japan, Malaysia and Australia, the distance he had come from his home town of Bocairent began to dawn as Nico stood on the verge of a potential title. A second and two third places later, his chances remained intact.
In the penultimate race of the 2010 season the Estoril circuit played host to the most dramatic scenes of the entire year. Torrential rain on the Saturday saw the cancellation of qualifying and two of the three title contenders stranded on the third row of the grid, with Nico Terol on the front row. A stunning race had the fans on the edge of their seats and nails to the quick in pit-lane as Terol and Márquez went head-to-head. A sudden downpour brought the race to a halt after nine laps and after a crash for the latter as the grid formed for the restart the second race will go down in the history books as one of the most memorable ever. Terol did all he could to take the victory from the first corner but he was beaten by a magical Márquez and forced to accept second place.
The final race of the season would decide the 2010 125cc World Champion, and it would come down to Márquez vs. Terol. The former had the advantage, which proved just too much for Nico to overcome. He gave it his best shot, and came home third in front of his home fans. Márquez took the title despite not placing on the podium in a race won by Bradley Smith, but Nico could hold his head up high as a standout performer in a great year of 125cc action. He will look for more of the same in 2011, again as an Aspar Team rider.
Source: Bancaja Aspar Team
