Espargaró tops all-Spanish 125cc podium

Pol Espargaró sent the home fans at the Gran Premio bwin de España into celebratory jubilations as he led an all-Spanish 125cc podium at Jerez, ahead of Nico Terol and Esteve Rabat.

Terol got off to a good start from the second row and there was to be immediate drama before the opening lap had been completed, as pole position holder and one of the strong favourites for victory on home soil Marc Márquez (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) crashed out, sustaining a dislocation in his right arm in the process.

The early stages of the race saw a group of five riders establish themselves as the main competitors for the podium, and by the midway point it was still Terol (Bancaja Aspar), Espargaró (Tuenti Racing), Efrén Vázquez (Tuenti Racing), Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo) and Rabat (Blusens-STX) who were challenging one another at the front of the race.

Cortese’s chances of securing a podium finish ended around lap 16 when the suspension linkage on the rear of his bike broke and he eventually finished in 11th place, and shortly after Vázquez was also eliminated from the podium equation and the race when he lost his front end pushing in Turn 9 as he kept pace with the leading pack.

Danny Webb (Andalucia Cajasol) was running in eighth place when he crashed out with just two laps remaining, as the front end of the race took further shape.

Coming into the final lap Espargaró stretched his leading advantage to win by a margin of 1.886s ahead of Championship leader Terol, who maintains his lead in the overall standings, with Rabat a further 13 seconds back. Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar) took fourth place at the track at which he won last season, with Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany) completing the top five.

Alberto Moncayo (Andalucia Cajasol) was sixth as he added another Spanish name to the top ten, with Johann Zarco (WTR San Marino Team), Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing), Alexis Masbou (Team Ongetta) and Jasper Iwema (CBC Corse) also securing top-ten finishes.

Lorenzo Savadori (Matteoni C.P. Racing), Sturla Fagerhaug (AirAsia - Sepang International Circuit Team), Riccardo Moretti (Fontana Racing), Louis Rossi (CBC Corse) and Jonas Folger (Team Ongetta) all failed to complete the race as they unfortunately crashed out.