
As at Jerez and Le Mans, Spanish riders have taken all three pole positions; however no Spanish rider has won from pole this year. The weekend in Catalunya turned out to be action packed in all three classes.
Pleae read on for all the full race summary in MotoGP, 250cc and 125cc. We have also included a photo gallery.
250ccMapfre Aspar’s Álvaro Bautista extended his lead at the top of the 250cc standings to 12 points with a highly polished performance earlier in the afternoon, crossing the finish line seven seconds ahead of his nearest rival Hiroshi Aoyama.The victory was made all the more sweet by the fact that World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera) retired with a mechanical problem after crashing on the second lap, meaning that the Italian -who clashed with Bautista in Mugello two weeks ago- dropped to fifth in the standings and now trails the Spaniard by 47 points after six races.As Bautista took his second victory and fourth podium of the year, Barcelona resident Aoyama (Scot Racing Team) brought his Honda home in second place at his ‘second home race’, beating poleman Héctor Barberá (Pepe World Team) on the last lap – the Japanese rider fighting back after looking like he had technical issues in the middle of the race. Aoyama consolidated his second place in the championship with his third podium of the season.Mattia Pasini (Team Toth Aprilia) dropped in the final laps when looking like he would be on the rostrum again, ultimately finishing in fourth, 3.5s behind Barberá.Another fight between ‘best of enemies’ Thomas Luthi (Emmi – Caffe Latte) and Alex Debon (Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens) saw the Swiss rider make a late mistake to hand fifth place to the Spaniard.
125ccAndrea Iannone’s rollercoaster season continued on Sunday in Barcelona as he took a bizarre victory over Julián Simón in the 125cc contest.The two riders did battle for top spot throughout the race only for Simón to celebrate prematurely as he crossed the line in first place with one lap to go, allowing Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. man Iannone to fly past and take his third win of the year – following three difficult races for the Italian in recent weeks.Behind second placed finisher Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team), Simón eventually reached the finishing line neck and neck with his Bancaja Aspar team-mate Sergio Gadea – the pair being recorded as having finished with the same time and a photo finish giving Gadea third spot to complete Simón’s heartbreak.Great performances from youngsters Marc Márquez (Red Bull KTM) and Jonas Folger (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A.) saw them also fighting for the podium, ultimately finishing fifth and sixth respectively – both within fractions of a second of reaching the rostrum.With Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) coming home in seventh place, Simón’s only consolation is that he takes over the championship lead from colleague Bradley Smith (also Bancaja Aspar) who was eighth.The next round of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship is the Alice Dutch TT at Assen on 25th-27th June.