Julian Simon took the runner up spot at the GP of Czech Republic, held at the Brno circuit under good weather conditions.

The AXO rider was solid from the start and became the first man to go round in under 2'09, looking for the leadership of the race. On lap three he joined two rivals in the fight, and studied Terol for a number of laps. Battling with Iannone, he clocked the fastest lap of the race with a 2'08.640 on lap nine, although he lost out to Terol on the final lap and had to settle for second and twenty points.

Julian Simon: "I am very happy with this race. Second place is a fantastic result considering that the fast corners were difficult for me. I was very consistent throughout the weekend, trying to set the bike up best for today. We maybe lacked a bit of acceleration compared to Nico Terol, but we did a great job with the chassis that gave me the advantage in braking and pace. Nico was very tough, making it more difficult for me and he closed down every opening when I tried to make a move on the final lap. I am satisfied because the 20 points allow us to leave Brno as leaders of the championship and give me extra confidence. We know that this is the way to go if we are going to win the title. We are going for wins in the final part of the year, but we have to keep our heads focused to get points."

Team mates Bradley Smith and Sergio Gadea took fourth and ninth respectively, while Chris Vermeulen in MotoGP didn't have such an eventful race. After getting blocked on the first lap and losing a lot of places, he found himself relegated to 15^th after starting from 11^th. He fought his way past a couple of riders and also benefitted from a crash between two other riders, to bring his bike home in 11^th place.

Among the MotoGP riders, a nice surprise: Michel Fabrizio has been called to replace Mika Kallio (who, by his side, was replacing Casey Stoner) aboard the Ducati of the Pramac Team.

After an encouraging start of the week end, the AXO rider was forced to retire after just 5 laps of the race due to a painful shoulder, which he had torn during Friday’s practice session.