results Grand Prix of Qatar

250cc


The 2008 season officially started also for the 250cc class with the GP of Qatar. Despite the first three riders of the previous season having left this class, the 250 bikes proved to be extremely fast, with riders performing amazing overtakings. Mattia Pasini wins on his RSA of the Polaris World team, over Hector Barbera, on his RSA of the Toth team and Mika Kallio, on his KTM.

Alex Debon is fourth. He performed a good race and fought for the podium till the last corner. Bautista is sixth, followed by Abraham on his LE of the AB Cardion team, who proved to be steadily improving since last year. Espargaro is ninth followed by his country yellow man Faubel, while Luthi finishes in the fifteenth position, after having faced a ride-through penalty. To mention Baldolini’s and Toth’s withdrawals and Laverty’s, Hernandez’s and Pesek’s falls.

125cc

The 125cc race proved to be exciting as ever, always uncertain till the last lap. Sergio Gadea wins on his RSA of the Bancaja Aspar, beating Olive, on his Derbi and Stefan Bradl, also on a RSA of the Grizzly Gas team.

The race was extremely fast and hard-fought. Smith started well from the pole, followed by Talmasci and Di Meglio. Eight riders managed to gain some lead over the others in the second lap. But Smith lost ground at the end of the lap, because of a technical problem, and ended up in the sixteenth position. Talmacsi started to impose his pace, with Gadea, Olive, De Rosa, Di Meglio, Webb and Redding following his slipstreaming. This led to a series of duels between riders overtaking one another and alternatively taking the lead. Talmacsi was forced to slow down three laps to the finishing line, because of an engine problem, and ended up in the twelfth position. Gadea managed to take the lead and gain ground over his pursuers. His task was made easier by De Rosa who, in his attempt to get the second place, hit Olive and caused him a fall. The group was then dissolved and the Valencian rider got first to the finishing line for the second time in his career. He gained this victory despite suffering from a luxation to his shoulder, after falling during the winter tests. Olive conquered the second step of the podium 0”932 behind him, while Bradl got the third position, after having overtaken Di Meglio and Redding in the final stretch.