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.

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.

Eurosport - Sun, 13 Apr 17:53:00 2008

Simone Corsi won the 125cc class Portuguese GP on his Jack & Jones Aprilia ahead of Joan Olive on the Belson Derbi to extend his lead at the top of the championship standings to 17 points.

Corsi's team-mate Nicolas Terol was third while Briton Danny Webb ended in fifth and countrymen Bradley Smith and Scott Redding crashed out and retired respectively.

Aprilia Aspar's Sergio Gadea - who finished ninth - slips from second to fifth in the standings with 32 points, as he is overtaken by Terol (42), Olive (40) and Aprilia Kiefer's eighth-placed Stefan Bradl (37).

Italian Corsi's win capped a weekend when he won pole and also set the fastest lap in the race.
A rampant Smith fought from 13th to fourth on the first lap as Degraaf Aprilia man Webb went from fourth to second.

Soon after that Polaris World rider Smith passed Corsi, who had suffered in a chaotic first lap, with Terol holding on to first.

Olive was on their tail and took advantage of a coming together to go ahead of all of them, but Terol hit back by retaking the lead on the following lap.

With a dozen laps left Olive capitalised as Terol ran wide and went ahead again before Smith left the track as he bore down on Corsi. The youngster ended in the gravel but walked off with stewards, seemingly unhurt.

Hungarian Gabor Talmacsi of Bancaja Aspar and American Stevie Bonsey - a team-mate of Webb - were up to fourth and fifth as a result and a problem that sent Webb back to seventh and ruined his chances of a podium; he managed to rectify it and get back up to speed.

Corsi passed Spaniard Olive on lap 17 to extend his championship lead after his second win in three races at the start of the 2008 season.

A renowned wet weather specialist, Mike di Meglio showed his dry skills in the opening qualifying session for the 125cc race in Estoril.

The Frenchman recorded a time of 1´47.990 to give him the early advantage of a provisional pole at the Portuguese track, nearly four tenths ahead of Nico Terol.

Two weeks on from his first ever front row and podium, Jack&Jones WRB rider Terol continued to shine as the Estoril circuit dried out, with the second fastest time of the afternoon in the class.

Michael Ranseder pencilled his name on the grid sheet for the front row onboard his I.C. Team Aprilia, with series leader Simone Corsi joining teammate Terol on the frontline.

Tomoyoshi Koyama heads the provisional second row, but his fast times came at a cost. The Japanese rider suffered a huge highside late in the session, flinging him into the gravel. Sandro Cortese and the Bancaja Aspar duo of Sergio Gadea & Gabor Talmacsi also put themselves on an initial second row.

The rider who has taken pole position at the opening two races, Bradley Smith was off the pace in the first qualifying run. The Polaris World man could only clock the 23rd fastest time, and the Briton will be praying that the rain stays away from Estoril tomorrow as he looks to make a significant improvement.