125cc – Assen – Kallio, harsh on Bautista

The championship is now gone, thanks to the unfortunate fall of Barcelona and the supremacy of the Aprilia "Factory" of Jorge Aspar Martinez's team. However, Mika Kallio, wasteful in 2005 but today perhaps the most concrete driver of the eighth-litre class, does not want to leave anything to chance, and today he won the Dutch Grand Prix (second of the season after Shanghai, sixth in his career) with grit, determination and that pinch of wickedness that transform a talent into a complete champion. Right at the last chicane, Mika overtook the Aprilia-Aspar pair, leaving Bautista in third position (he also lost the sprint with Gadea for second place) and thus gaining nine points for the championship standings. In a GP marked by Derbi's problems at the start (Pesek finished fifth behind a great Corsi, but starting from the last position on the grid), the championship standings now read Bautista 160, Kallio 113. Today it is not impossible to recover: this is the "difficult"…

Race report

In 125 the infirmary hosts only Julian Simon, one less protagonist for a KTM that despite everything has Mika Kallio in pole position ahead of Bautista, Pesek and Gadea. Be careful though, because the Derbis of Pesek and Terol are experiencing problems (perhaps with a spark plug), with the latter starting from the pits while the Czech manages to line up on the grid with a broken headset, but from last position. So front row without Lukas Pesek, it's 11.02, off we go, off to the 125cc Dutch Grand Prix!! Kallio holds the lead ahead of Aspar's two Aprilias (with Gadea ahead of Bautista), who is rejoined by Faubel and an incredibly fifth Iannone.

The first lap goes by smoothly without anyone actually trying to overtake: here it is really difficult to try an attack, and everyone seems to be adopting the most wait-and-see tactic possible. However, on the second lap, in the old section of the TT Circuit, there are the first emotions with Gadea passing Kallio and Faubel imitating him by overtaking Bautista. In the meantime, Mattia Pasini also joins his teammates, followed by his compatriots Lai, Corsi and Iannone. Stefan Bradl crashed, but it doesn't matter because he immediately returns to the leading group.

Fourth lap, Bautista breaks through and passes Kallio, who replies and even returns to the lead in the chicane before the finish line ahead of the poker of Aspar-Aprilia and Simone Corsi, sixth. Mike Di Meglio appears out of nowhere and, alone together with Kallio, breaks the hegemony of Aspar Martinez by placing fifth ahead of Gadea. Lap Seven, Bautista is the new leader of the race, but Kallio responds to him in nothing proving that he seems to be in great shape today. The two gain a good margin over their pursuers, they habitually exchange positions, in short they play, because apart from Gadea who seems capable of recovering something no one is able to worry them.

Speaking of thoughts, Masbou and Sandi, involved in a double-slip during the ninth lap, have something to complain about and self-recriminate about, still losing many points and having to measure themselves against the asphalt again. Another unlucky young man is Mateo Tunez, fifth standard bearer of the Aspar-Aprilia team, stopped due to a mysterious problem. The same can be said of Fabrizio Lai, out earlier than expected on the 13th lap.

However, we must highlight and underline the incredible performance of Lukas Pesek: starting last, 24th on the first lap, the Czech from Derbi is now fourth, even if unfortunately in the seven laps remaining until the checkered flag it is impossible to think of him as the winner (I am well five hypothetical seconds to catch up on the leading trio).

Bautista, Kallio, Gadea: this is the order in which success will be played out in Holland, among tulips and a legendary track transformed into beautiful rubbish. It's difficult to make any predictions, also because with 3 laps to go Gadea achieves a double overtaking, demonstrating that he has something more under braking. Kallio doesn't agree, he attacks and passes Bautista in the chicane before the finish line, launching himself in pursuit of the other Spaniard from Aprilia. It is on the old section of the track that there are the only overtaking attempts, noteworthy side-by-sides and opportunities to gain that margin that can be worth success. With a lap to go, Bautista moves into second position, he wants to win today too, but above all he doesn't want his teammate to experience his moment of glory in the former Motorcycling University.

He demonstrates this before the chicane, where Kallio also leads behind: the two touch, Bautista comes wide and cuts the chicane but the KTM Finn goes on to win ahead of Gadea who mocks an inattentive but very angry Bautista in the sprint. Kallio, Gadea, Bautista, 9 points earned by the Finn who however does not remedy a truly compromised championship situation. Excellent fourth Simone Corsi who finishes ahead of the comeback Pesek, Faubel and Pasini, seventh with few lights and many shadows...

125cc – Assen – Ranking

01- Mika Kallio – KTM – 22 laps
02- Sergio Gadea – Aprilia – + 0.122
03- Alvaro Bautista – Aprilia – + 0.128
04- Simone Corsi – Gilera – + 6.793
05- Lukas Pesek – Derbi – + 6.828
06- Hector Faubel – Aprilia – + 10.647
07- Mattia Pasini – Aprilia – + 10.691
08- Thomas Luthi – Honda – +10.935
09- Pablo Nieto – Aprilia – + 13.297
10- Raffaele De Rosa – Aprilia – + 13.336
11- Gabor Talmacsi – Honda – + 13.430
12- Joan Olive – Aprilia – + 20.824
13- Mike Di Meglio – Honda – + 24.778
14- Sandro Cortese – Honda – + 27.876
15- Nico Terol – Derbi – + 28.772
16- Bradley Smith – Honda – +37.462
17- Lorenzo Zanetti – Aprilia – + 39.194
18- Manuel Hernandez – Aprilia – + 46.514
19- Joey Litjens – Honda – +47.384
20- Michele Conti – Honda – + 47.911
21- Vincent Braillard – Aprilia – +48.374
22- Michael Ranseder – KTM – +48.880
23- Georg Froehlich – Honda – +59.268
24- Lorenzo Baroni – Honda – + 59.373
25- Esteve Rabat – Honda – + 59.455
26- Simone Grotzkyj – Aprilia – +1'03.116
27- Roberto Tamburini – Aprilia – +1'05.437
28- Hiroaki Kuzuhara – Malaguti – +1'05.603
29- Imre Toth – Aprilia – +1'16.271
30- Dino Lombardi – Aprilia – +1'17.141
31- Stefan Bradl – KTM – +1'39.032
32- Robert Muresan – Aprilia – 1 lap away
33- Patrick Vd Waarsenbur – Aprilia – 1 lap

Alessio Piana