Terol still with championship lead after another podium

The 125cc French Grand Prix kicked off at 11am today, and it was clear that this was not going to be a race fought in a tight pack. Nico Terol took off like a flash from pole position –his first in the class- and went all out to establish a gap between himself and his rivals. He looked to be having things his way, but Espargaó made sure that the race did not become a solo exhibition. Behind the front two lay a close-knit group, led by Bradley Smith.

The race was a speedy one, and times on the third lap were already around the sub-’44 mark. The quickest lap was a 1’43.787. The final result was a third consecutive all-Spanish podium, with Espargaró, Terol and Márquez the men on the rostrum.

Due to his spectacular practice pace, Nico Terol had earned pole position for Sunday’s clash and seemed the likely winner of the French GP. Going for the win, he clocked the first fastest lap of the race, quickly opening up a gap. With two laps remaining he suffered a small wobble, which was enough to give the victory to Espargaró. Second for the second consecutive race is still a positive result for the Spaniard, who continues to lead the World Championship standings.

2nd Nico Terol: “I knew from the way that the weekend had been going that I had a great pace, so my goal was to start quickly and break away. I was fast right out of the garage in practice, so I did the same today, but Pol caught up and latched onto me. I was giving it everything in the middle of the race, but he stuck with me. I wanted to let him pass with eight laps remaining in order to attack later, but my tyres were in a bad way and it wasn’t possible. I tried to make a move with two laps remaining, but I entered a bit too wide. It’s a shame, because it would have bee great to see the race end with us both side-by-side. When you ride at the limit these things happen, but I am happy with the result and with the work done by my team.”