Smith wins in Valencia as Marquez seals 125cc title

Article from http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2010/125+race+valencia

Fourth position for Marc Márquez was more than enough for the 17 year-old to be confirmed as the deserved 2010 125cc World Champion after a mature ride from the Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider in the GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana on Sunday. Victory was taken by Bradley Smith as he won his first race of the season in the final round, cruising across the finish line 2.786s clear in his last 125cc ride before graduating to the Moto2 class next season.
Taking a 17-point lead into the race Márquez knew that a calm and measured approach would be the key to wrapping up his first title, and immediately after the start of the race the order settled. Smith took the lead, with Nico Terol (Bancaja Aspar) – Márquez’s only title rival in the final round – and Márquez following behind.
A poor start from Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing) was recovered well by the Spaniard as he slowly climbed back up the order having dropped as low as 11th on the opening lap, and as the race progressed Márquez allowed him through and into third, avoiding any potential mishaps to his title hopes.
With two laps to go Espargaró went through on Terol and the duo swapped positions once again, all the while Smith leading comfortably at the front.
The Brit took the chequered flag almost three seconds clear for his first win of 2010, thus breaking what had stretched to a 26-race winning streak in the category for Spanish riders. Espargaró signed off from the class with second position – his 12th podium of the year – with Terol crossing the line in third.
Márquez, at just over five seconds back, took fourth position to end the year on 310 points having won ten races, taken 12 podiums and 12 poles in the process.
Completing the top ten were Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo), Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX), Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany) – in his 100th GP – Efrén Vázquez (Tuenti Racing), Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) and Luis Salom (Stipa-Molenaar Racing).
Riders suffering final-race disappointment in not finishing included Johann Zarco (WTR San Marino Team) who crashed out, whilst young Brit Danny Kent (Lambretta Reparto Corse) was forced to retire with a mechanical problem. Danny Webb (Andalucia Cajasol) lost an exhaust towards the end and finished 16th.