Eurosport - Sun, 25 May 16:44:00 2008

Britain's Lewis Hamilton battled to a masterful Monaco Grand Prix victory despite hitting the barriers on an afternoon of mayhem in the rain.
Hamilton reignited the scrap for this year's drivers' world championship with a memorable drive for McLaren in a race of treacherous wet and dry conditions.

For the 23-year-old Englishman his first win on the famous Mediterranean street circuit was a dream result in his favourite race.

Hamilton came home three seconds clear of his friend Pole Robert Kubica in a BMW Sauber with Brazilian Felipe Massa third for Ferrari after starting from pole position.

This was the Briton's second win of the season and the sixth of his career.

Australian Mark Webber in a Red Bull was fourth.

Ferrari's defending drivers world champion Kimi Raikkonen of Finland endured a wild race of accidents and incidents and finished ninth, failing to score a point.

This all left Hamilton on top of the title race again for the first time since the season opening race in Australia.

He has 38 points now with Raikkonen on 35 second and Massa third on 34.

Hamilton made a dazzling start and found a way past Raikkonen going into the first corner Ste Devote on the inside to take second behind Massa.

As rain began to fall steadily, and with Hamilton's teammate Heikki Kovalainen starting from the back of the grid following a pre-race stall, the contest turned into a circus of chaos.

There were incidents and accidents with double world champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso involved twice in collisions and Hamilton himself smashing into the barriers on lap six at Tabac.

His rear right tyre was left hanging as he returned to the pits.

David Coulthard had climbed from 15th to the top ten by now but the rain played havoc with the race for several minutes as Alonso, followed by Coulthard and Sebastian Bourdais crashed off into the barriers at Massenet.

Then Raikkonen was given a 'drive-through' penalty because Ferrari had failed to fit his car's tyres properly more than three minutes before the start of the race.

After he had performed his punishment, the running order at the top was Massa followed by Kubica and then Hamilton who had pitted and recovered.

On lap 16, as the field grappled with the wet slippery conditions, Massa spun off and recovered his car at Ste Devote, gifting Kubica the lead in his BMW-Sauber.

The Pole stayed there until he had to pit and that put Massa back in front until he pitted after 32 laps.

Hamilton then took over and opened up a commanding advantage.

He was 16.2 seconds ahead after 38 laps and 25 seconds ahead of the Brazilian by lap 44.

As the track dried out the field settled down with Hamilton inspired by leading. He was 36.7 seconds clear of Massa by lap 52 with the Ferrari driver in turn just half a second ahead of Kubica in third.

Amazingly, the German driver Adrian Sutil, who revels in the special conditions of Monaco, was fourth for Force India at this stage.

It was clear Hamilton was in command providing the weather did not intervene again and his lead was so luxurious he could pit after 53 laps and stay out in front when Massa followed suit three laps later.

Massa's second stop also cost him a position as he was passed 'in the pits' by Kubica.

With 17 laps remaining, Nico Rosberg caused the second Safety Car intervention when he lost control in the swimming pool complex and wrecked his car in a massive accident.

By now, following their pit-stops, the leading drivers have switched from their wet weather tyres to dry tyres and the track had dried considerably - and the Safety Car break meant, also, that Hamilton's big lead was cut back.

When racing resumed, Hamilton raced clear but on lap 68 Raikkonen made a major mistake and lost control of his car as he came out of the tunnel and ran into the back of Sutil.

Both drivers had to pit for repairs, but it was costly for the German as he was forced to retire while the champion rejoined in ninth place.

German Sebastian Vettel picked up points in fifth for Toro Rosso and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello came in sixth for Honda.

Japanese Kazuki Nakajima was seventh for Williams and Kovalainen eighth in the second McLaren after starting from the pit lane.

Eurosport - Sun, 18 May 16:57:00 2008

Britain's Bradley Smith claimed a career-best second-placed finish in a rain-affected 125cc French GP at Le Mans as home rider Mike Di Meglio took the chequered flag.

Di Meglio now leads Spain's Nicolas Terol - who finished third - in the championship by eight points, while Smith jumps from 14th to eighth.
Polaris World Aprilia rider Smith endured a topsy-turvy race, which had to be halted after 15 of the 24 laps because of rain. That proved to be a blessing in disguise for the young prodigy after he became embroiled in an incident at the first corner and dropped from second on the grid to 19th.

Bancaja Aspar Aprilia man Sergio Gadea retained his position at the front of the pack at the start while Esteve Rabat moved from ninth to third behind Stefan Bradl and Nicolas Terol also made a jump, to fourth from seventh.

Reigning 125cc world champion and Gadea's team-mate Gabor Talmacsi wasted little time in working his way through the field from eighth on the first two laps, emerging into second. Smith also made up ground, surging to 16th while his compatriot Scott Redding took ninth.

Jack and Jones Aprilia rider Terol went past both Talmacsi and Gadea to lead the grand prix while Redding, overtaken by Tomoyoshi Koyama, collided with Marc Marquez, forcing both into the gravel and out of the race.

Terol fell back to third on the seventh lap as Smith improved to 10th, behind Joan Olive and Spaniard Pol Espargaro, the latter of whom began to set the fastest laps in the entire field to make life difficult for him.

Bradl continued the trend for changing leaders as the rain began to spit by passing each of the front three with relative ease, only for Terol to snatch the lead soon after.

Even that did not last, with Olive coming from nowhere to take the front - and on the next lap, nine from the end, the heavens opened and the red flag came out.

The race was restarted with teams reverting to their wet tyres and only needing to complete five laps. Smith capitalised from his position at the front of the third row - the order determined by that at the end of the previous lap - to go fourth while Rabat, who had been lurking behind the frontrunners, crashed his KTM.

Olive had a problem on the grid and had to work to get the bike going, dropping off the radar. Behind new leader Talmacsi was Terol as Smith went third briefly before Espargaro snatched it back.

With three laps left Smith made a move on those ahead of him before finding himself leading the grand prix as Hungarian Talmacsi skidded out. It did not last, Di Meglio shooting through from even further back to take it from him.

Smith moved aside as the Frenchman challenged, desperate not to crash out too, and was rewarded with the top finish of his fledgling career. Olive came in eighth.

Spain's Alex Debon coasted to victory in the 250s from Italian Marco Simoncelli, who led a late attack on compatriot Mattia Pasini to snatch second.

Finn Mika Kallio finished fifth behind Japanese Yuki Takahashi and still leads the overall championship, by 16 points from Pasini with Debon and Takahashi 18 points further back.

Sunday, 18 May 2008

In his 112th World Championship race, Alex Debon finally achieved his maiden victory in Le Mans.

A last-minute tyre gamble paid dividends for Alex Debon in Le Mans, as the Lotus Aprilia rider took his first World Championship victory in an inspired performance.

With the French track still wet from the deluge experienced during the 125cc race, poleman Debon elected to run a full slick on his factory Aprilia machine. As the sun dried out the race, the Spaniard racked up circuit record after circuit record to take a huge lead, one that he maintained until crossing the chequered flag.

After 112 races, the popular veteran could finally step onto the top step of the podium. The remaining rostrum places were more closely contested, with Metis Gilera´s Marco Simoncelli once again pulling an aggressive final lap move. He took second, with the recipient of the manoeuvre Mattia Pasini completing the rostrum onboard his Polaris World Aprilia.

Unlucky to finish outside the top three, after leading the charge to catch up with Debon, JiR Team Scot´s Yuki Takahashi took fourth place. Mika Kallio held onto his World Championship lead with fifth, despite nearest rival Pasini´s podium finish.

The top ten was completed by Manuel Poggiali, Hiroshi Aoyama, Julian Simon, Aleix Espargaro and Hector Faubel.

Eurosport - Sun, 18 May 16:16:00 2008

Valentino Rossi fought from fourth on the grid to win the French MotoGP at Le Mans by almost five seconds from Fiat Yamaha team-mate and rookie sensation Jorge Lorenzo, who began in fifth.

Briton James Toseland of Yamaha Tech 3 retired only two laps in while his team-mate Colin Edwards took third.

The finish means that Italian Rossi takes over at the top of the riders' standings with 97 points, while Spaniards Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa - who finished fourth after a battle with American Edwards - are level on 94.

Reigning world champion Casey Stoner was fifth after holding a podium position for several laps and is fourth overall, a massive 38 points further back.

Stoner led the grand prix after an electric start put him ahead of pole sitter Pedrosa, with Edwards ahead of Rossi and 2006 champion Nicky Hayden.

Toseland settled into sixth position after the first lap and he set his mind to taking on Hayden, whose woes were to continue with a final placing of ninth. However he collided with Andrea Dovizioso and took a trip into the gravel and out of the race.

Lorenzo, who can barely walk after his recent crashes in China and twice in practice this weekend, had dropped out of the top eight after a slow start. And Rossi immediately set out his intentions by shooting into second position.

Rossi went one better on lap five by taking on Stoner with success as Pedrosa too tried to move past the Australian, but was thwarted.

Lorenzo moved up to sixth by lap 10 as Pedrosa went past Stoner. Two laps further on Edwards, lurking with intent just ahead of Chris Vermeulen, briefly left the Ducati Marlboro man behind him only to lose his racing line coming out of the corner and drop back again.

Hayden ran wide and effectively nullified his potential challenge for major points while Lorenzo took fifth and rain began to spit after a sunny start.

The weather did not develop into a race-threatening situation and Rossi gradually built his lead. Lorenzo continued his ascent into the top three by lap 19.

Stoner followed John Hopkins, forced to retire from a points position when his chain flew off, out of the GP with a mechanical problem when only eight laps remained.

There was no stopping Lorenzo as he went second and built a gap of his own to take a comfortable runners-up spot while carving five seconds from Rossi's almost 10-second lead beforehand.

Repsol Honda man Pedrosa tried to win a podium spot from Edwards but did not have enough to go past him before the 28th and final lap.

Rossi's victory meant that he equalled the 90 in all classes of MotoGP legend Angel Nieto. He is a long way behind Giacomo Agostini's total of 122.

Eurosport - Sun, 04 May 07:24:00 2008

Finland's Mika Kallio extended his 250cc championship lead to 21 points with a commanding victory in difficult conditions in Shanghai.

The KTM man mastered a drying track to claim victory ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama and Mattia Pasini, his closest rival in the championship race.

Leader Alvaro Bautista slid off while leading before remounting to finish 13th, one place ahead of Northern Irish contender Eugene Laverty.

There was heartbreak for Japan's Yukio Takahashi, who looked set to claim a well-deserved podium finish before suffering a mechanical problem two corners from home and limping in seventh.

Marco Simoncelli guided his Gilera to fourth place ahead of Alex Debon and Hector Barbera, whose tyres faded badly after the Spaniard had contended for the lead early on.

British trio Bradley Smith, Danny Webb and Scott Redding all crashed out of a sodden 125cc Grand Prix in Shanghai.

Italy's Andrea Iannone won his maiden race for IC Team Aprilia ahead of Mike Di Meglio and Gabor Talmasci, while championship leader Simone Corsi also failed to finish.

Despite starting from his third pole position of the year, Smith failed to finish in the points for the third time in four races and his championship hopes have been left in tatters.

Webb, the leading British points scorer of 2008, slid off while eighth on lap 11 of 19, and 15-year-old Redding completed an unwanted hat-trick shortly afterwards when he ran wide and lost control, appearing to hurt his wrist.

Despite his second-row grid position, Iannone hit the front after overtaking Smith on the first lap, and never surrendered his lead.

Behind him wet-weather specialist Di Meglio overhauled Talmasci and held off a last-lap charge from the Hungarian to claim second.

Corsi went out on lap six after a collision with Tomoyoshi Koyama in treacherous conditions, and Smith fell the following lap as the wet track claimed 12 retirements.

Corsi continues to lead the championship on 59 points, nine ahead of Joan Olive and Nicolas Terol. Di Meglio on 49 and Nicolas Terol complete a crowded picture at the top of the standings.
Webb remains on 21 points, while Redding has 20 and Smith 16.

Five-time champion Valentino Rossi won his first MotoGP race of 2008 with a superb performance in Shanghai.

The Italian legend set a succession of lap records in cool, slightly damp conditions, shaking off the persistent Dani Pedrosa, who takes over the championship lead.

Ducati's Casey Stoner finished some way back in third ahead of the heroic Jorge Lorenzo, who broke his ankle in a horrifying crash on Friday but raced on to claim fourth.

There was disappointment for Britain's James Toseland, who started seventh on the grid but was off the pace throughout and finished 12th.

Rossi and Pedrosa moved clear of the pack after polesitter Colin Edwards ran wide on his Tech3 Yamaha, with the Italian hitting the front after four laps.

Despite his Honda's inability to match the Yamaha's straight-line speed, Pedrosa clung on to Rossi's back wheel for 15 exhilarating laps.

But the Spaniard was eventually dropped, and eased off over the final laps to claim a gritty second place.

It was Rossi's first win in nine races, ending his longest drought since moving into the MotoGP class nearly a decade ago.

"I'm very, very happy, as it's been a long time without victory. This was a difficult period," Rossi said.

"I really had to push to beat Dani. It was a great victory for us."

Pedrosa added: "In the end I just slowed down because I saw that I couldn't get Valentino, and I just decided to keep the engine alive and finish second."

Lorenzo held off a rejuvenated Marco Melandri, who claimed by far his best result of the season in fifth place, and 2006 champion Nicky Hayden.

Toni Elias and Suzuki veteran Loris Capirossi were also part of a compelling battle that covered positions four to nine for much of the race.

Pedrosa's fourth podium in as many races moved him to 81 points at the top of the standings, with Lorenzo on 74 and Rossi a further two adrift.

Defending champion Stoner finds himself 25 points off the pace while Toseland is tied for fifth with Capirossi.