BAUTISTA STILL THE 125 LEADER
23 May 2006 - Aprilia

Alvaro Bautista, of Master Aspar, finished outside of the top three although he fought for the victory throughout the last curves.

However, nothing changed in the international classification as he is still in the lead. The Spanish rider took off far behind the top riders but was able to insert himself in the top group from the second half of the race on. During that time, Bautista reduced the gap that separated him from the top three riders: Kallio (Ktm), Lai, and Luthi (Honda). The rider from Master Aspar waited and attacked, a strategy that allowed him to fight with the leaders and stay in the running for victory at the end of the race. Unfortunately, just a few meters from the end of the race, an electric problem silenced his motorcycle and consigned him to fourth place. His position, however, allowed Bautista to stay atop the international classification with 99 points, 21 more than Kallio, his closest competitor. Behind Bautista in fifth and sixth place were the riders from Multimedia Racing, Pablo Nieto and Raffaelle De Rosa. We are talking about optimal results, especially since this was the first complete motomondiale season for the young De Rosa, the rider from Avellino who debuted last year at the English GP. Raffaelle completed an exemplary race and chose to mount slick tyres on the starting line despite the fact that the pavement was still humid from the night’s rain. De Rosa, in fifth place throughout the race, was passed by his teammate Nieto and then fought with Joan Olive (SSM Racing) who came in 7th place. Also in the top ten were Sergio Gadea (Master Aspar) and Andrea Iannone, who brought home his best result of the season, 9th place. Iannone races for Team Campetella and decided to race with intermediate tyres, the only one to do so at Le Mans. Mattia Pasini came out of the race during the second lap when his motorcycle lost grip with the pavement. Pasini’s fall also involved Zanetti (Skilled ISPA) who had a really nice race going. Zanetti’s fall was concentrated on Pasini’s bike, and as he fell in front of him, he took a hit to his left side, forcing him to seek medical treatment. With today’s performance, Aprilia remains the world leader with 108 international points, 25 more than its closest rival.

www.aprilia.com

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