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It is easy to state that Hiroshi Aoyama has been a shining star this year in the 250cc World Championship after coming
back to Honda, reviving the competition of the Japanese factory in the intermediate session with his smart racing, consistent
form and three fantastic victories at Jerez, Assen and Donington.
The 27 year-old from Chiba only skipped the top
five two times, has six stage appearance ends in total and a 13 point lead on Álvaro Bautista in a title challenge
which may seemly go down to the wire in the remaining four events in 250cc history. The Moto2 class exceeds over the intermediate
category next year with Honda giving the motors to the squads, but Aoyama’s form this year has given him an excellent
negotiating point if he wishes to proceed into MotoGP next year.
A premier class move is due shortly for Bautista,
who will exit the Mapfre Aspar squad to unite with Rizla Suzuki next year, when he finishes his current title competition.
The skilled and popular Spaniard was rumoured for a great championship this season before it began and he made improvements
on a disappointing initial round result at Qatar, having begun on pole, when he claimed victories at Japan and Catalunya.
However, a major error for Bautista ensued at Assen when he smashed out in the final laps after challenging the win
with Aoyama. He has not been able to take down Aoyama in the title event since, event though stage appearances followed in
recent rounds, though it is sure that he will challenge to the end this year.
World Champion Marco Simoncelli’s
ride this year has definately been inconsistent, which began with a preseason injury at training, preventing him from participating
in the opening event at Qatar, he then left Japan pointless following round two.
The Metis Gilera racer also could
not claim any points in the opening two events of 2008 before heading on to claim the title. He has gained four victories
this season, three in the past five events, however his Barcelona and Misano DNFs have added to a disappointing position being
40 points away of Aoyama in the rankings. He will also go into MotoGP next season with the San Carlo Honda Gresini squad.
Fourth in the championship is also racer, Pepe World Team’s Héctor Barberá, who has also doused
with inconsistency. He claimed an initial race victory in Qatar and the final event at Misano, but has ended outside the top
ten twice and outside the top five on five seperate occasions. Following Simoncelli in the rankings, he will be fighting for
third spot overall, and will join the new Aspar Ducati premier class next year.
Team Toth’s Mattia Pasini
has had his work cut out for him this season, having tested a Pramac Racing Ducati MotoGP motorbike in the Czech Republic,
though he has yet to confirm any plans for next year. He has been unable to complete events five times this season, but his
highlights incorporated an excellent home victory at Mugello, plus two very close second places at Brno and Misano, where
he just missed out on victory by less than a second in each event.
Pasini’s colleague Raffaele de Rosa (Scot
Racing) has been doing well in his initial year in the 250cc session, gaining points at every round but only taking one top
five result to date in Qatar. Meanwhile, for Héctor Faubel, he has one DNF and one podium, but many finishes outside
the top ten have stopped him from taking on more points in total, sitting at seventh place overall.
Concluding
the current top ten are Alex Debon and Thomas Luthi, who both clashed at Le Mans and were looking for better results this
season. Roberto Locatelli is still keen to gain points nearly 10 years from his victory in the 125cc title and was on
the stage in France with his colleague Simoncelli.
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