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Saturday October 24, 2009

Aoyama boosts 250cc title hopes by setting fastest lap

JAPAN’S Hiroshi Aoyama’s hopes of winning his first world championship title in the 250cc class received a huge boost after he set the fastest lap in the first free practice session of the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit yesterday.

After the frustration of a seventh-placed finish in the red-flagged Australian Grand Prix at Philip Island last Sunday, Aoyama’s time of 2:07.875 saw him lead the quarter-litre class by just 0.013s. Aoyama currently leads the 250cc standings by 12 points and will claim the world crown with one round to spare if he takes the chequered flag and his nearest rival, Marco Simoncelli of Italy, finishes no higher than fifth tomorrow.

Aoyama, of Scot Racing, is on 227 points going into the penultimate round of the 17-round championships. Simoncelli is 12 points behind.

Defending world champion Simoncelli failed to secure a good start to his campaign and could only manage 10th place – 1.262s off Aoyama’s pace.

In an exciting session in which the fastest lap was re-set several times, Spaniard Alex Debon was fractionally slower than Aoyama while Thailand’s Ratthapark Wilairot caused a stir when he finished a further 0.039s behind for the third quickest time.

In the 125cc class, British rider Bradley Smith set the fastest lap of the opening practice to lead by 0.2s.

His time of 2:14.895 set the standard ahead of next quickest rider Marc Marquez of Spain.

Smith’s team-mate and newly-crowned world campion Julian Simon of Spain was third fastest in 2:15.201.

Smith, who is currently second in the championship with a 21-point lead over Nicolas Terol of Spain, will be looking to consolidate his position in the overall standings after seeing his team-mate clinch the title in Phillip Island last weekend.

Free Practice Times

MotoGP: 1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 2:02.180, 2. Casey Stoner (Aus) Ducati 2:02.244, 3. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 2:02.758, 4. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 2:02.864, 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 2:03.142, 6. Loris Capirossi (Ita) Suzuki 2:03.253, 7. Toni Elias (Spa) Honda 2:03.294,8. Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 2:03.426, 9. Colin Edwards (US) Yamaha 2:03.739,

10. Chris Vermuelen (Aus) Suzuki 2:03.763, 11. Mika Kallio (Fin) Ducati 2:03.785, 12. Alex de Angelis (Rsm) Honda 2:04.042, 13. Marco Melandri (Ita) Kawasaki 2:04.274, 14. Randy de Puniet (Fra) Honda 2:04.664, 15. James Toseland (Bri) Yamaha 2:05.218, 16. Gabor Talmacsi (Hun) Honda 2:05.289, 17. Aleix Espargaro (Spa) Ducati 2:05.336.

250cc: 1. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jpn) Honda 2:07.875, 2. Alex Debon (Spa) Aprilia 2:07.888, 3. Ratthapark Wilairot (Tha) Honda 2:07.927, 4. Mike Di Meglio (Fra) Aprilia 2:07.973, 5. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Aprilia 2:08.159,

6. Hector Barbera (Spa) Aprilia 2:08.285, 7. Mattia Pasini (Ita) Aprilia 2:08.763, 8. Lukas Pesek (Cze) Aprilia 2:08.852, 9. Raffael De Rosa (Ita) Honda 2:09.120, 10. Marco Simoncelli (Ita) Gilera 2:09.137.

125cc: 1. Bradley Smith (Bri) Aprilia 2:14.895, 2. Marc Marquez (Spa) KTM 2:15.095, 3. Julian Simon (Spa) Aprilia 2:15.201, 4. Nicolas Terol (Spa) 2:15.520, 5. Jonas Folger (Ger) Aprilia 2:15.746,

6. Sandro Cortese (Ger) Derbi 2:15.753, 7. Joan Olive (Spa) Derbi 2:15.841, 8. Simone Corsi (Ita) Aprilia 2:16.126, 9. Esteve Rabat (Spa) Aprilia 2:16.186.

Selected: 24. Elly Idzlianizar Ilias (Mas) Aprilia 2:18.653, 29. Muhd Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Mas) Yamaha 2:22.194.

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