125 GP Results

Marc Márquez became the youngest ever rider to take four successive Grand Prix wins today when he triumphed in the 125cc Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya.

Taking the record off Valentino Rossi, the 17 year-old Spaniard won by a comfortable margin as he underlined his dominance of the category with his third victory from pole position.

Bradley Smith got a fantastic start from the front row and led into Turn 1 but when he ran wide at the exit it was Márquez who took advantage to shoot through and immediately start building an early lead as the field settled into their rhythm.

Unfortunately for Esteve Rabat his race was ended prematurely - as it had been in the previous round at Assen - when he crashed out at Turn 10 on the opening lap.

Randy Krummenacher made an impressive start to rise from 14th to seventh, whilst towards the front a battle for second started to settle between Smith, Nico Terol and Pol Espargaró, as they became detached from the remainder of the field and Márquez continue to build his lead.

There were further fallers in the form of Alexis Masbou and Sturla Fagerhaug as they pushed for positions further down the field, but the real battle was unfolding between the trio competing for the remaining two podium positions. Luis Salom was forced to retire shortly after.

As the final quarter of the race approached Márquez had established an unassailable lead, which stood at close to four seconds, but Smith, Espargaró and Terol were incredibly closely matched as they engaged in a tactical contest. The distance back to fifth placed Sandro Cortese had stretched to almost 40 seconds as the last two laps beckoned.

Drama on the final lap saw Terol try to make a move but have to pull back suddenly to avoid hitting Espargaró and he ran wide and dropped to the back of the trio. The tension peaked further when the Bancaja Aspar rider then had a highside as he pushed hard, ending his participation.

That left Smith to take his second podium of the season and cross the line in second place at 4.638s off winner Márquez. Espargaró was a further 0.358s back as he took third.

Cortese won the battle with Efrén Vázquez for fourth place, with Tomoyoshi Koyama sixth and Krummenacher seventh. Johann Zarco, Jonas Folger and Danny Webb completed the top ten.

125 GP Records

The result moved Márquez onto 132 points and into top spot in the standings, with Espargaró now second at just a point behind. Terol's non-finish means he is now third on 118, with Smith remaining in fourth and now on 94 points.

125 GP Results - Barcelona, Sunday, July 04, 2010