Positive season start for the Repsol riders at Welkom
Pablo Nieto, fourth, almost on the 125 GP podium; Porto third in the 250 GP; Barros fourth and Hayden fifth in MotoGP.
The most expected start of the season in recent times hasn’t disappointed anybody. Today, the three classes have offered highly spectacular races at the Welkom circuit. In the premier class, the Repsol Honda Team riders have had a progressive weekend. Barros, who is not completely recovered from the operation on his injured shoulder, had the doubt whether he would be able to stand the 45 minutes of the race without suffering any pain. The Brazilian rider, starting from the third row of the grid, moved up to ninth in the first lap of the race. Bit by bit he recovered positions until catching up with and then overtaking his teammate Hayden, thus securing the fourth final position. The North American rider of the Repsol Honda Team was fourth after the start but could not avoid loosing contact with Rossi, Biaggi and Gibernau during the first laps. Hayden lapped almost alone during the first half of the race, controlling his fellow countryman Edwards who was following him and having no possibilities to catch up with the leading trio. In the last laps his teammate Barros caught-up with him and overtook him, setting him back to the final fifth place.
In the 250 GP, Sebastián Porto made one of the best races of his sports career, but a mistake in the second lap hindered him from fighting for the victory. After the start, Porto took the lead setting a very strong pace nobody was able to keep up with. In only one lap and a half Porto opened a gap of almost one second and it seemed that he would be able to escape from the rest of the pack. But during the second lap, the front tyre of his Aprilia skidded entering one of the fastest corners and the Argentinean went off the track. He rejoined the race in the last position. From that moment on the Repsol rider made an impressive progression setting the new record of the South African circuit, and taking him to the final third place. When he overtook Poggiali, who was riding alone in third place, De Puniet and Pedrosa were already far ahead. The fight for the lead was very exciting and the victory was finally for class rookie Dani Pedrosa. Fonsi Nieto, with problems in the rear break of his Aprilia fought in the second group of the race for the fifth place with De Angelis, Elias and Rolfo. Finally Nieto crossed the finish line in seventh place.
The 125 GP race started with two riders leading the pack and setting a fast pace taking to a very early break-up of the race in several groups. With Dovizioso and Locatelli in the lead, Stoner, Simoncelli, Bautista and Pablo Nieto fought hard not to loose the pace of the first group. Aspar’s pupil lost some metres at the beginning of the race and was later on left behind by the leading group while trying to overtake Bautista, who was not able to keep up with the fast pace set by Locatelli and Dovizioso. After overtaking Bautista, Nieto’s new target was the Italian Simoncelli, who was riding about one second and a half ahead. Halfway the race, Nieto overtook the Italian and began the definitive chase for the leading pack: With ten laps to go Nieto caught up with Locatelli, Dovizioso and Stoner, but the state of the tyres after the fast pace throughout the race forced him to be cautious and secure a good result. Despite passing Stoner two laps before the end of the race and putting himself third, Pablo could not avoid being passed again by the Australian, having to settle for the final fourth place. The victory was for the Italian Dovizioso followed by his fellow-countryman Locatelli. Sergio Gadea, in his first race on the South African track finished in a meritorious twenty-third position.
