The 125cc class marked their annual visit to Indianapolis with a thrilling race that ranks amongst the best of the year so far on Sunday, with two packs of riders challenging for the upper positions. Nico Trol repeated his early leadership from the Czech Republic for near enough the entirety of the race, but was shocked late on by Pol Espargaró, who overtook him with two laps remaining for his first Grand Prix victory. The breakaway group was full of talent, reducing from ten to six to five as the process of elimination was decided by the speedy pace. Espargaró, Smith, Corsi, Terol and Simón all put in exciting overtaking as the final places were arranged.
Zero points from Germany and Great Britain and fourth in the Czech Republic meant that Bradley Smith had spent three races away from the podium -a big hit to his title challenge. He returned to form Stateside with a great race, and could have won had he not made a small mistake on the entry to the home straight. The Bancaja rider recorded a mercurial 1'49.039 circuit record on his final lap, to take second place and make a rostrum comeback.
Here's Bradley's comments:
"I think that today's result was very positive, because I finished ahead of every rider that was above me in the championship standings. It's been a while since I was last on the podium, and I think that I really needed this. I hope that we can keep up this form at Misano next weekend. At one point in the race I doubted whether I could take a podium, because we were truly at the limit all the time. It was tough to keep up the pace, let alone overtake. Nico was very combative during the race, so passing him on the last lap with a circuit record was a big achievement for me. A little mistake on the entry to the home straight stopped me from fighting with Espargaró. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take the victory, but I hope to be in shape to try again next Sunday. Second place has helped to motivate me, and it will keep me focused for the upcoming races."
