Racing: Simon secures 125cc title

Julian Simon clinched the 125cc world championship with a thrilling last-lap victory over his team-mate Bradley Smith in the 2009 Iveco Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island on Sunday afternoon.

For the second year in a row the 23-lap 125 at the Island decided the fate of the title as 22-year-old Simon of Spain thrust his Aprilia up the inside of Smith's at Turn 10 and held on to win his fifth race of the season by a margin of just over a tenth of a second.

A relatively distant third was German Sandro Cortese on a Derbi, coming from a lowly 15th position on the opening lap, while pole-sitter Pol Espargaro on another Derbi finished fourth after being overtaken by Cortese on the final straight.

Espargaro led the early laps of the race from Nico Terol's Aprilia, but Terol's small chance of keeping his title hopes alive waned as the race went on.

Needing to beat Smith to make certain of the title, Simon made a cautious start to be as low as eighth in the opening stages but came through to lead for the first time at the start of lap 14.

From then on it was a double fight for the race win and the title as Simon and Smith exchanged the lead, the two never separated by more than a tenth of a second as the battle raged over the concluding 10 laps.

"The race was very complicated," said 'Julito' after his victory, "because Smith was pushing so hard to win. Now the most important thing is to compliment my team for their support and the confidence they gave me. Every race we stayed very strong."

Although edged out of the title on the final lap, Smith took consolation in scoring his first-ever points in the Australian race.

"It was nice to finally come away from Phillip Island with some points," said the 18-year-old Englishman, "and a great race to go with it. I've got a bitter-sweet taste at the moment after losing out in the title race but I gave it my best and now we'll fight to hold on to this second place overall."

Australian wildcard Brad Gross on a Yamaha finished 24th, Andy Lawson was 27th and Levi Day 28th and last man classified. Nicky Diles of Victoria crashed out on lap two.

The Aussie wildcards
Brad Gross (Yamaha)
Result: 24th
Fastest lap: 1:43.190
Top speed: 219.2km/h (race)
Race: A solid, if somewhat lonely, outing for the Queenslander, who was the only Australian to have previous wildcard experience. Was in 25th position for most of the race, but moved up a position on the last lap following the DNF of Spaniard Esteve Rabat.

Andy Lawson (Honda)
Result: 27th
Fastest lap: 1:44.820
Top speed: 225km/h (race)
Race: After being given a reprieve to compete (he failed to meet the 107 per cent cut-off in qualifying), Lawson reeled off consistent laps in the 1:45 and 1:46 bracket. Like his countrymen, he had to push on with an underpowered machine.

Levi Day (Honda)
Result: 28th
Fastest lap: 1:45.541
Top speed: 215.7km/h (qualifying)
Race: Another one to get a second chance, Day was the last rider home. He lost contact with the pack early on, but didn't wave the white flag in his first outing as a wildcard at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Nicky Diles (Aprilia)
Result: DNF
Fastest lap: 1:44.063
Top speed: 219.5km/h (warm-up)
Race: Diles crashed on lap two after he was left with nowhere to go when another rider cannoned up the inside at Turn Four. He remounted, but called it a day five laps later.

Dylan Mavin (Honda)
Result: DNS
Top speed: 210.8km/h (qualifying)
Race: Did not compete after he broke his ankle early in yesterday afternoon's qualifying session.

125cc Race Results:
1. Julian SIMON (Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc) 37:55.798
2. Bradley SMITH (Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc) 37:56.111
3. Sandro CORTESE (Ajo Interwetten) 37:57.855
4. Pol ESPARGARO (Derbi Racing Team) 37:57.959
5. Simone CORSI (Fontana Racing) 37:58.128
6. Nicolas TEROL (Jack & Jones Team) 37:59.037
7. Efren VAZQUEZ (Derbi Racing Team) 37:59.088
8. Andrea IANNONE (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A.) 38:08.618
9. Marc MARQUEZ (Red Bull KTM Moto Sport) 38:18.153
10. Sergio GADEA (Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc) 38:18.400
11. Scott REDDING (Blusens Aprilia) 38:24.979
12. Dominique AEGERTER (Ajo Interwetten) 38:24.997
13. Danny WEBB (Degraaf Grand Prix) 38:25.020
14. Jonas FOLGER (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A.) 38:25.194
15. Randy KRUMMENACHER (Degraaf Grand Prix) 38:25.259
16. Johann ZARCO (WTR San Marino Team) 38:25.507
17. Lorenzo ZANETTI (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A.) 38:27.049
18. Takaaki NAKAGAMI (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A.) 38:28.280
19. Luis SALOM (Jack & Jones Team) 38:54.131
20. Michael RANSEDER (CBC Corse) 38:54.283
21. Tomoyoshi KOYAMA (Loncin Racing) 39:14.815
22. Jasper IWEMA (Racing Team Germany) 39:19.419
23. Jakub KORNFEIL (Loncin Racing) 39:19.529
24. Brad GROSS (Gross Racing) 38:27.187
25. Luca VITALI (CBC Corse) 38:31.447
26. Luca MARCONI (CBC Corse) 38:34.378
27. Andrew LAWSON (Champions Ride Days) 38:54.372
28. Levi DAY (Racetrix / Angelo:s Aluminium) 39:20.381

Not classified
12. Esteve RABAT (Blusens Aprilia) 34:58.883
96. Nicky DILES (RSW Racing) 14:35.757
17. Stefan BRADL (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) 3:26.504
6. Joan OLIVE (Derbi Racing Team) 3:29.494
16. Cameron BEAUBIER (Red Bull KTM Moto Sport) 4:46.379