Talmacsi battling history and bad luck

If reigning 125cc World Champion Gabor Talmacsi is to retain the title he secured in the very final race of 2007 the Hungarian will need a swift change in fortunes as he seeks to buck a trend which has not seen the single cylinder crown defended successfully for more than a decade.

Technical problems with his Bancaja Aspar Aprilia bike in the opening two GPs of the year have seen Gabor Talmacsi record a 12th place finish in Qatar and a DNF in Jerez, to leave him with just four points in the early 125cc general standings – 30 points behind provisional leader Simone Corsi in 18th position.

The first few rounds of 2007 saw a number of different race victors in the smaller World Championship class, but as Mattia Pasini found out to his cost playing catch-up is hard task with so many riders capable of winning races.

Talmacsi will therefore need a big improvement at the third round of the year in Portugal if he is to become the first man to win back to back single cylinder titles since Japanese rider Haruchika Aoki did so onboard Honda machinery in 1995 & 1996.

Since then numerous champions have attempted to do the same without success, while several 125cc title winners have not defended their title due to their respective promotions to the 250cc class, namely Valentino Rossi, Roberto Locatelli, Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso and Alvaro Bautista.

Another Japanese 125cc World Champion, Kazuto Sakata, who took the 1998 crown with Aprilia, found the going tough the following year after a move to Honda – finishing 14th whilst his title was taken by Emilio Alzamora.

Spanish rider Alzamora then lost out to current 250cc competitor Locatelli in 2000, finishing third behind Japanese runner-up Youichi Ui.

San Marino's Manuel Poggiali, meanwhile, went closer to a successful defence in 2002, the 2001 125cc champion finishing runner-up to Arnaud Vincent by a 19 point margin.

However, 2003 was a tough year for Vincent, poor results leading to his departure from KTM midway through the season – the Frenchman finishing 18th after completing the campaign on an Aprilia.

The last rider to attempt what Talmacsi sets out to do this year was Swiss rider Thomas Luthi, champion in 2005 and eighth the following season.