MOTORCYCLING Live

Moto GP

Malaysian GP - Race (20 laps)

Sunday October 25, 2009 | Finished

Aoyama closes on 250cc title

Hiroshi Aoyama took a huge step towards the last-ever 250cc world championship with a brilliant victory in Malaysia. More

Race live standing

P.	Driver	Team	Time
1	Hiroshi Aoyama	Scot Racing Team 250cc	42:55.689
2	Héctor Barberá	Pepe World Team	43:02.086
3	Marco Simoncelli	Gilera Metis	43:02.086
4	Thomas Luthi	Emmi Caffe Latte Aprilia	43:10.560
5	Hector Faubel	Thai Honda PTT SAG	43:14.866
6	Ratthapark Wilairot	Honda Thaï	43:15.256
7	Alex Debon	Aprilia Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens	43:15.944
8	Lukas Pesek	Auto Kelly - CP	43:30.250
9	Alex Baldolini	WTR San Marino Team Aprilia	43:46.626
10	Shuhei Aoyama	Honda HRC	43:59.875
11	Balazs Nemeth	Wildcard	44:04.606
12	Karel Abraham	Aprilia Cardion	44:06.305
13	Valentin Debise	Honda France	44:13.634
14	Bastien Chesaux	Racing Team Germany	44:25.358
15	Vladimir Leonov	Viessman Kiefer Racing	44:39.225
16	Shouya Tomizawa	CIP Moto-GP250	42:59.560

Live Commentary

- So the championship goes to the final race, but Aoyama goes to Valencia as a big favourite - his lead is now 21 points!
- Second for Barbera! Race stewards could not separate the pair from the video evidence, so it went down to which rider had the faster lap, and that was the Spaniard.
WIN! Aoyama wins and it is a DEAD HEAT for second between Simoncelli and Barbera for second!!! They are level to a thousandth of a second, and there is a video finish in progress!
20/20 Last lap! Aoyama is cruising, but Simoncelli has Barbera all over him! And if Simoncelli goes down the championship is over!
19/20 Amazing! Aoyama's lead is now over four seconds and he is streaking to victory. It is now all about whether Simoncelli can hang on to second.
18/20 Barbera is all over the back of Simoncelli and is looking to nap second place - a move that would cost Simoncelli an additional four points.
17/20 Lap record for Hiroshi Aoyama, who continues to extend his lead! This is a potentially decisive move...
16/20 Aoyama is starting to assert himself, and has put a second between himself and Simoncelli... If the Japanese rider wins he will be 17 points clear ahead of the final race of the season.
15/20 Simoncelli runs very wide and nearly collides with Barbera as he returns to the racing line!
14/20 Aoyama overtakes! Then Simoncelli gets him back! Then Aoyama overtakes again! And the crowd roar their approval at this magnificent battle!
13/20 Following Cluzel's fall, it is Simoncelli from Aoyama, with Barbera also in attendance - it's those three, then the rest.
12/20 Amazing dice between the front two - it's nip and tuck all the way and there are still another eight full laps to go. This is the penultimate 250cc race, and the series is certainlu bowing out in style.
11/20 Cluzel is down! What a shame for the Frenchman, who put his Aprilia into the gravel! And Mattia Pasini is also down...
10/20 Aoyama has a look up the inside of Simoncelli but has to let off to stop his front wheel getting taken out!
9/20 Oooohhh!! Simoncelli is side-by-side with Aoyama and forces the Japanese rider wide onto the green run-off area!
8/20 Brilliant stuff - the two title contenders are first and secodn, with Aoyama stuck to Simoncelli's back wheel.
7/20 Another faller, and it's Alvaro Bautista! He misses his braking point and down he goes. He remounts, but there is obviously a problem with his bike and his race appears over.
6/20 Down goes Di Meglio! He loses the back end and slides off the track!
5/20 Now Simoncelli takes the lead!! He nudges up the inside of the French privateer Cluzel!
4/20 Simoncelli is right on the back wheel of Aoyama, and he overtakes him to go third! Fantastic stuff from the Italian!
3/20 Nightmare for Aoyama!! He overtakes Cluzel to lead the race, but then misses a gear and drops all the way to fourth!
2/20 Aoyama leads by 12 points in the championship ahead of Simoncelli. If the Japanese rider wins, Simoncelli must finish no lower than fourh to keep the championship alive.
1/20 GOOOO!! The privateer Jules Cluzel gets the holeshot from Hiroshi Aoyama, and Marco Simoncelli is well back!
- Follow live coverage of the Malaysian 250cc GP from 05:15 UK time!