Results 125/250 GP of Catalunya

There were just 2 riders able to race at 110% for 23 laps of the Catalunyan circuit, Dajiroh Katoh( Telefonica Movistar Honda) and Tetsuya Harada (MS Aprilia Racing). After Marco Melandri slipped off his Aprilia on lap 11, the two Japanese riders laid down their laps at the fastest pace of the field and pulled gradually away from Roberto Rolfo (Safilo Oxydo Aprilia), having another excellent race. Harada was able to stay within a couple of bike lengths of Katoh, but could not pass and hold the lead. There was some interest down the field in the battle for best Spanish rider, which eventually went to Fonsi Nieto (Valencia Aspar Aprilia), but the race was pretty static.

Melandri got the drop on polesitter Katoh at the start of the race and led into the first turn, with Harada and Katoh close behind. Harada moved past almost immediately, but Katoh chose to hang back for a couple of laps to judge the relative speeds of his Aprilia rivals. By lap 4 he decide that he had them sorted and he moved to the front of the group. Initially Emilio Alzamora (Telefonica Movistar Honda) was able to match the pace of the leaders, but he dropped back past Roberto Rolfo, who was again riding a strong race as best non-factory Aprilia. Other than a small mistake on lap 9, when Harada moved past him briefly, Katoh seemed to be riding fast, but well within his limits. Despite the injuries sustained so far this season Melandri also seemed to be comfortable, but on lap 11, he lost the rear end of the bike and slid into the gravel trap. By this time, Rolfo, now 3rd., was 6 seconds down on the leaders and he could make no impression on their lead. Roberto Locatelli (MS Racing Aprilia) and Jeremy McWilliams (Aprilia Grand Prix team) gradually caught and passed Alzamora, but while Locatelli could pull away, McWilliams became caught up with a fight for 5th.place. With just 5 laps to go, they were joined by Fonsi Nieto and the three of them battled to the flag, with Nieto getting the place by half a wheel.

Harada continued to shadow Katoh as the race came to a close and it looked like the Aprilia rider was waiting for a last-lap challenge, probably at the end of the lap, where he seemed to be a little faster. Indeed Harada moved right up to the rear wheel on the last left-hander of the race, but Katoh had the move covered and Harada could not pass. On the remaining right-handers Harada tried to get alongside, but ended up a bike-length short of victory.

Katoh extended his lead to 10 points in the championship, but Harada is still a threat and it just needs another race like Mugello for the title chase to be wide open. Still 5 wins from 6 races is an amazing achievement for the Honda rider.

Katja? She crashed on the first lap, picked herself up, dusted down the bike and rejoined the race. Ended up 26th. and last. The spirit's there for sure.

Lucio Cecchinello (MS Aprilia) is one of the veterans of the 125 class, joining the class alongside Valentino Rossi, seeing Rossi move on, seeing Melandri join and move on. Not a strong winner, but a regular top 10 finisher. Today was his second day of glory after his first win 3 years ago. In a very close race with new Spanish star Tony Elias (Telefonica Movistar Honda), Cecchinello recovered from a poor start from pole position to join the leaders, Elias, Ueda (FCC-TSR Honda) and Perugini (Italjet Racing) by lap 6. His job of leading the field was simplified 4 laps later, when Ueda lost the front wheel on a right-hander at the top of the circuit, forcing Perugini to go wide into the gravel trap to avoid the crash. This left Elias and Cecchinello with a 6-second lead on a pack of 6 riders fighting for third place. Despite some very close racing, all six riders managed to make it to the checkered flag with the exception of Masao Azuma (Liegeois Honda), who slid out of the group on the penultimate lap. Elias took the lead with 5 laps to go and stayed on top until Cecchinello used an identical passing move on a long right-hander to again take the lead with 2 laps to go. Elias shadowed the Italian for the last 2 laps, waiting until the last half of the last lap to try and take Cecchinello on the last left-hander of the track. the bikes touched and Elias had to back off or crash, leaving Cecchinello to take the win.

Next race Dutch TT 30 June