2009 Sachsenring 250cc Race Result - Lead Held To Line Despite Desperate Chase

Race result and summary of the 250cc German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring:

Marco Simoncelli won a rain-shortened 250cc race at the Sachsenring, but his victory didn't come easy. The Italian led away from the line at the first time of asking, but rain started falling almost the moment the bikes left the line, and after Jules Cluzel crashed heavily at the fast and frightening Turn 11, the race was red-flagged, rescheduled, and shortened from 29 to 19 laps.

At the second time of asking, it was Alex Debon who got the jump, leading by nearly a second and half by the end of the first lap, but after fighting his way through to 2nd on the opening lap, Simoncelli started the difficult business of chasing the Spanish veteran down. It took Simoncelli until lap 6 to catch Debon, but the Spaniard used some wily tricks - including putting a backmarker between himself and the Italian - to hold off the inevitable. It worked for two laps, but on lap 8, Simoncelli was past going into Turn 1. Though Simoncelli was past, he could not drop Debon, and the two stayed together all the way to the line, Simoncelli prevailing over Debon.

Once again the excitement was over 3rd place, which developed into a battle royal between Alvaro Bautista, Hiroshi Aoyama, Hector Barbera, Hector Faubel and Mike di Meglio. Faubel and Aoyama had the early running, but Bautista, Barbera, di Meglio and Mattia Pasini soon caught the pair, despite Barbera and Bautista squabbling over the chase. 

Di Meglio and Pasini did not survive the chase, both crashing out round the last part of the track, though on different laps. Aoyama had passed Faubel on lap 4, but Faubel had hung on, though once Barbera and Bautista arrived they were soon past him. It was clear that the Aprilias of the two Spaniards had a speed advantage over Aoyama's Honda, but the Honda put on a masterful display of holding off riders on superior equipment.

For the last 7 laps, Barbera and Bautista dropped down the hill, drawing level with Aoyama going into Turn 12, but each time, Aoyama either held them off, or slipped back underneath on the exit of the corner. Bautista tried at Turn 13, the final corner, but Aoyama pulled exactly the same trick there. The Scot Honda rider's resistance lasted until the final lap, when Bautista shot underneath him going into Turn 1, and Aoyama had no way of getting it back. 

The scrap for 3rd had brought the group close to Simoncelli and Debon, but in the end, they were not quite close enough for Bautista to attempt a pass for 2nd. But the 3 extra points Bautista scored for 3rd allowed him to narrow the gap in the championship with Aoyama to just 10 points.

Results: