Gadea takes Assen victory from third row

A three-way battle at the front of the 125cc race in Assen saw the order of the podium positions decided on the very last lap, with Sergio Gadea earning his first win of 2009.

The Spaniard emerged victorious ahead of fellow countrymen Nico Terol and Julián Simón in a dry race that went down to the wire, saw Terol penalised twenty seconds and left Simón at the head of the overall classification.

The trio had battled against one another since just past the halfway mark in Assen, when third row starter Gadea joined up with the two leaders and mounted his own attempt at victory. With neither rider able to get away, a waiting game took place until the final lap, when Terol made a move that did not pay off and ran along the asphalt run-off strip. He caught up with Gadea on the home straight, but the Bancaja Aspar rider had enough of an advantage to take the win. The move was the subject of an enquiry by Race Direction, and the decision was made to relegate Terol to fifth place despite his having stepped onto the rostrum.

After taking the holeshot, British rider Bradley Smith lost ground on the leaders and became embroiled in a dogfight with title rival Andrea Iannone. Smith eventually bested the Ongetta Team I.S.P.A rider by five-hundredths of a second, in a move that gave him a belated podium behind teammates Gadea and Simón.

Whilst German riders Stefan Bradl and Jonas Folger took seventh and eighth place, respectively, there was disappointment for poleman Sandro Cortese. The Ajo Interwetten man crashed out on lap five when fighting in the chasing pack, whilst further fallers included Johann Zarco, Tomoyoshi Koyama, Danny Webb and Cameron Beaubier.