125cc title fight to continue at round seven

The Alice TT Assen cannot arrive quickly enough for Júlian Simón, who currently leads the way in the single cylinder class and is desperate to put the painful memories of the Barcelona race firmly behind him.

Although Simón came out of the Catalunya weekend with a 1.5 point advantage over his Bancaja Aspar colleague Bradley Smith, the conclusion of 125cc contest was a complete fiasco for the Spanish rider who celebrated a victory one lap too early and was then heartbreakingly denied a podium spot by another teammate, Sergio Gadea, in a photo finish.

Such is Simón’s strength of character and the general form he has shown in 2009, however, it would not be a huge surprise to see him bounce straight back with a win at Assen. One man who will aim to stand in his way will be Englishman Smith, who looked somewhat off-colour during the last GP, but is also generally having a fine season.

Back in the title picture after a brief dip in results Iannone (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A.) took full advantage of Simón’s Barcelona mishap to win for the third time this season. The Italian sits 12.5 points beneath Simón in the classification and is likely to be amongst the frontrunners again in The Netherlands.

Beyond the top three the aforementioned Gadea (also Bancaja Aspar) and his fellow Spaniard Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team) are both also in good form and could well be in the hunt for podium places on Saturday.

The 125cc action begins with first free practice at 12.40pm on Thursday 25th June.