Sachsenring MotoGP: Di Meglio wins German 125 GP as Bradley Smith just misses out on a podium finish

Despite a very close race at the front, Mike Di Meglio opened up a large gap late in the race to take his third win of the season today at the Sachsenring and further secure his position at the top of the championship. Stefan Bradl finished in second, with Gabor Talmacsi and Bradley Smith in third and fourth respectively.

Despite starting in pole position, a bad start saw Gabor Talmacsi drop back through the pack as Stefan Bradl lead through the first few corners with Brit Bradley Smith close behind him in second.

As Talmacsi worked hard to move his way back up the pack, Simone Corsi and Joan Olive passed Bradley Smith, leaving him in 4th place. Bradley held 4th position until with 23 laps to go, he heroically overtook both Corsi and Olive on the brakes coming into turn 1.

With 22 laps to go, British rider Danny Webb retired to the pit with mechanical problems.

With 19 laps to go, Smith took pole from Corsi and the two of them started to pull away from the rest of the pack. Meanwhile Mike Di Meglio was on a mission further back and set the fastest lap of the race in fourth position with a 1’27.8 and shortly after passed Bradl for third place.

At the front with 15 laps to go Bradley Smith opened up a gap from the other front runners as Di Meglio and Corsi chopped and changed, fighting for second place and slowing each other down.

With 12 laps to go Di Meglio pulled away from Corsi and started to close down on Bradley Smith before eventually taking pole position 2 laps later. With 9 laps to go, Bradley Smith appeared to be slowing due to some spots of rain and Bradl caught and passed him, incidentally in the same place Di Meglio passed Smith just one lap earlier.

In the 19th lap Talmasci also closed on Smith and passed him, putting Bradley down in to fourth place. Meanwhile the battle for the podium positions let Di Meglio break away in pole position and open up a huge 1.6 second gap.

Mike Di Meglio kept up the pace for the remaining 4 laps, leaving Bradl to take second, Tamasci third and Bradley Smith just missed a podium finish in fourth.

1  Mike DI MEGLIO   FRA  Ajo Motorsport    Derbi   40’03.710  
2  Stefan BRADL   GER  Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing  Aprilia  40’05.720  
3  Gabor TALMACSI   HUN  Bancaja Aspar Team   Aprilia  40’06.443  
4  Bradley SMITH   GBR  Polaris World    Aprilia  40’06.557  
5  Simone CORSI   ITA  Jack & Jones WRB   Aprilia  40’12.827  
6  Sandro CORTESE   GER  Emmi – Caffe Latte   Aprilia  40’12.959  
7  Nicolas TEROL   SPA  Jack & Jones WRB   Aprilia  40’12.967  
8  Scott REDDING   GBR  Blusens Aprilia Junior   Aprilia  40’34.488  
9  Esteve RABAT   SPA  Repsol KTM 125cc   KTM   40’36.021  
10  Marc MARQUEZ   SPA  Repsol KTM 125cc   KTM   40’36.744  
11  Dominique AEGERTER  SWI  Ajo Motorsport    Derbi   40’36.831
12  Andrea IANNONE   ITA  I.C. Team    Aprilia  40’36.844  
13  Pere TUTUSAUS   SPA  Bancaja Aspar Team   Aprilia  40’36.881  
14  Marcel SCHROTTER  GER  Toni Mang Team    Honda   40’36.918  
15  Pablo NIETO   SPA  Onde 2000 KTM    KTM   40’37.465  
16  Efren VAZQUEZ   SPA  Blusens Aprilia Junior   Aprilia  40’38.264  
17  Pol ESPARGARO   SPA  Belson Derbi    Derbi   40’41.486  
18  Stevie BONSEY   USA  Degraaf Grand Prix   Aprilia  40’41.582  
19  Takaaki NAKAGAMI  JPN  I.C. Team    Aprilia  40’57.950  
20  Marvin FRITZ   GER  Kiefer Bos Sotin Jnr. Team  Seel   41’01.959  
21  Alexis MASBOU   FRA  Loncin Racing    Loncin   41’17.912  
22  Louis ROSSI   FRA  FFM Honda GP 125   Honda   41’18.965  
23  Robert MURESAN   ROU  Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing  Aprilia  41’20.066  
24  Marco RAVAIOLI   ITA  Matteoni Racing   Aprilia  41’20.564  
25  Tobias SIEGERT   GER  Adac Nordbayern e.v.   Aprilia  40’59.273