Marco Simoncelli reduced the gap on Hiroshi Aoyama in the 250cc World Championship to 12 points with a victory at Phillip Island, as the Japanese competitor was classed into seventh spot when the event was red flagged.

Roberto Locatelli’s crash that ended up with him lying stricken on the circuit, brought the race to an early finish, with Simoncelli ahead.  Álvaro Bautista had already smashed when in second place earlier on, and Aoyama rose to fourth from seventh on the final completed lap.

Simoncelli took the lead early and the Italian kept that form for the rest of the event, until a red flag on the 18th lap gave him the victory, with Héctor Barberá in second and Raffaele de Rosa in third positions respectively.

Championship leader Aoyama was behind in seventh from third on the grid early on, and with Bautista challenging, the pressure was placed on the Japanese competitor. Bautista’s most disappointing qualifying position of the season, which saw him begin in tenth spot, was slowly improved upon as the race progressed.

Barberá kept up pace with Simoncelli in the front, with pole holder De Rosa only just over 0.5s behind,  Mattia Pasini smashed out with 17 laps left to end a tough weekend.

A crash for Bautista ended his hopes, and on the next lap Jules Cluzel’s slip up saw Aoyama take fourth spot. The drama increased with Locatelli’s spill at MG Corner.

This gave Simoncelli the win and reduce the deficit in the event for the title on Aoyama, while Cluzel was given fourth despite his smash.   Mike di Meglio finished fifth. Karel Abraham’s sixth position was the Czech’s best ever race result.

Locatelli had bruising to his lower back but managed to escape without serious injury, while Simoncelli’s victory was the 200th for an Italian competitor in the 250cc session.