250cc contingent ready for Montmeló contest

The Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya will see the next chapter of an intriguing 250cc title race unfold at Montmeló, with championship leader Álvaro Bautista out to prove a point after his battle with Marco Simoncelli in Italy at round five.

Bautista and Simoncelli veered off track together when the Spaniard was under pressure for the race lead from the Italian at Mugello and he will want revenge in front of his supporters in Catalunya, having felt the incident cost him a second victory of the year after he crossed the line in third place, behind Simoncelli.

Mapfre Aspar rider Bautista has tasted victory at the Barcelona track before, albeit in the 125cc class en route to the 2006 title, and he finished second to Simoncelli in last year’s 250cc race. Simoncelli will try to repeat his 2008 success and move up from third in the standings, currently 22 points behind Bautista.

Trailing Bautista by seven points in the classification Scot Racing’s Hiroshi Aoyama counts this as his second home race given that he is a Barcelona resident. In his five Grand Prix appearances at Montmeló, all in the 250cc class, he has never finished on the podium but has never come home outside the top ten.

Also featuring in the group of top five riders who have all won races this season, Valencian rider and 2004 125cc Catalunya victor Héctor Barberá would be a popular winner, whilst Mattia Pasini arrives for this weekend full of confidence on the back of his Mugello glory just over a week ago.

Completing the 250cc top ten ahead of the visit to one of the most highly rated tracks on the calendar are Swiss rider Thomas Luthi, Italians Raffaele de Rosa and Roberto Locatelli, Spaniard Héctor Faubel and Frenchman Jules Cluzel.