Di Meglio and Barberá not separated by photo finish

Due to the sophisticated timing systems used in the MotoGP, with riders given times to within a thousandth of a second, race positions are rarely decided by photo finishes – but even that method was not enough to separate Mike di Meglio and Héctor Barberá at the bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal.

The pair crossed the line with exactly the same time at Estoril on Sunday locked together in a tight battle for second place in the Portuguese 250cc race, with Race Direction having to look back over the fastest lap in the race achieve by each rider in order to specify the podium placings.

It was Di Meglio who therefore came out on top, having marked the best lap of the pair in the race, with a 1’40.961 lap. After being awarded second place – his best result thus far in his debut 250cc campaign – the Frenchman stated, “It was been quite a while since I enjoyed riding so much and I had a great battle with Barberá. We passed each other so many times and at the end of the race I had to ride really well to be competitive as my rear tyre was completely worn out.”

Obviously slightly less pleased, Spaniard Barberá had to deal with the disappointment of missing out in such an unusual manner. He commented, I ended up third even though we crossed the line together, but it was the fastest lap which counted. When you finish like that it is a bit of a lottery and it is infuriating to lose out like that, but that is racing.”

The last occasion on which the ‘fastest lap’ ruling came into play to decide a placing was in the 125cc race in Qatar in 2004 when Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso crossed the line with the same time and Lorenzo was awarded the race win courtesy of a faster ‘personal best’ in the race.