2009 Catalunya 125cc Race Result - Bizarre Last Lap Creates Grateful Winner

Result and summary of 2009 125cc race at Catalunya:

Andrea Iannone won a dramatic first race at the Montmelo circuit in Barcelona, featuring one of the strangest last laps we've seen since Estoril 2006.

Teenage German star Jonas Folger led off the line, but within a couple of corners, Pol Espargaro had taken the lead from him. A lap later, Nico Terol took over 1st, before the Italian Andrea Iannone took the lead. By lap 3, a big group had formed, with Julian Simon and Andrea Iannone swapping the lead, while behind them Nico Terol, Pol Espargaro, Jonas Folger and Sergio Gadea.

Simon and Iannone started to gap the following group, and spent the entire race swapping the lead, Iannone taking over at the La Caixa corner, with Julian Simon coming back at him into the first corner. The two looked perfectly matched, victory looking to be down to tactics.

With 4 laps to go, Iannone took the lead into the first corner and tried to make a break, but the attempt stranded at the La Caixa corner. 2 laps later, it was Simon's turn, and the Spaniard seemed to succeed where the Italian had failed. But as they crossed the line, to start the final lap, Simon sat up, waved his finger in the air to make the #1 sign, and started celebrating victory. His pit crew, their eyes wide with disbelief, then signalled frantically to him that the race was not yet over, a message emphasized by being passed by the following pack. Iannone went to take victory uncontested, a win that simply fell into his lap.

Behind the leaders, a group consisting of Nico Terol, Jonas Folger, Sergio Gadea, and Marc Marquez were fighting over the final podium spot. Pol Espargaro had dropped out earlier, heartbroken when his chain jumped the sprocket on his Derbi, Marquez taking his place after a fantastic few laps to fight his way forward. The four men were all close, with nothing to choose between them.

The race for the final podium spot was further complicated by the furious Julian Simon. Once he'd realized there was another lap to go - contrary to the scoring on the huge La Caixa scoring tower which dominates the circuit - Simon was back with group, now fighting over 2nd and 3rd. Nicolas Terol had taken over the lead of the group with a few laps to go, and was holding off all challengers, a position he held to the line, eventually gifted 2nd, but there was yet more heartbreak for Julian Simon.

The Spaniard put in the lap of his life to dispense with Folger and Marquez, nearly highsiding off at La Caixa, before diving into the final corner three abreast, and crossing the line seemingly ahead of his team mate Sergio Gadea, the result given by the official scoring, and shown on the big screens. But the result was so close that it was subjected to a photo finish. And as Simon sat in the winner's circle, please at least to have salvaged 3rd, the official judgment came down: Gadea had crossed the line fractionally ahead of his team mate, and Simon was demoted to 4th, and forced to take the very, very long walk out of the winner's circle and back to his pits, where he faced a serious grilling from his team boss Jorge Martinez.

Race result: