Waldmann triumphs with splash and dash.

Ralf Waldmann scored a dramatic last corner victory in the GP250 British Grand Prix after late-race rain played right into his hands.

The German opted for a wet-weather set-up late in the day - against the wishes of his team - and looked to have made the wrong decision as the damp track dried gradually and played into the hands of those opting for intermediates all round.

Pole-sitter Olivier Jacque made the best getaway and, with a wet weather front on his Chesterfield Yamaha, was able to open out a gap over the rest of the field. The similarly-shod Tohru Ukawa was quickly into second, while the home crowd was treated to a scrap for the final podium place between Jay Vincent and Jamie Robinson, both of whom were on intermediates front and rear.

It looked to be a bad day for the 'official' Aprilias, however, for, in addition to Waldmann going backwards on his full wet bike, works rider Marco Melandri crashed out on lap three. The second Chesterfield Yamaha of Shinya Nakano also looked to be in trouble, dropping back down the order from his front row start.

With ten laps remaining, however, the rain returned to Donington Park, and quickly began to cause havoc in the running order. Robinson was caught out by a lack of grip running down the Craner Curves and joined fellow QUB rider Adrian Coates in the gravel, while the two leaders eased their pace by several seconds in order to guarantee making it to the finish. Vincent, too, was given a wake-up call, as he saved what looked set to be a high-side at Old Hairpin, traversed the grass verge and rejoined - somehow still in third place.

The weather was playing straight into the hands of the gamblers, however, and Waldmann and Petronas-backed Naoki Matsudo soon began to make inroads into the top ten. That then became the top five, as the pair started knocking nine seconds a lap off the leaders. As the rain got heavier, so the margin decreased, and Vincent lost both third and fourth in one fell swoop at Redgate on 26 of 27.

Next time around, the wet-shod riders gobbled up second placed Ukawa and set off in pursuit of the leader. Jacque knew they were coming, but could do little to defend himself and, despite holding a twelve second lead going into the last lap, found Waldmann coming past exiting Goddards.

''I'm really happy with second, to be honest,'' the Frenchman admitted, ''It was so easy to crash today. I couldn't do anything about Ralf - I could see him in the final corner, but my bike was spinning [its wheels] even on the straight, so it was impossible to stop him.''

The grip of the Aprilia was noticeable, as it wheelied past the Yamaha. The silver bike was scrabbling for traction in comparison and, had the finish line been further away, Jacque would have lost second to Matsudo as well. As it was he managed to hold on, while Ukawa and Vincent maintained fourth and fifth through the final stages.

''Everybody saw me going to the pits to swap to my wet bike,'' Waldmann smiled afterwards, ''and even the mechanics told me that it was a mistake to take it. But at Assen, on intermediates, I was being passed many times, so I thought it was worth the risk. In the first few laps, however, I thought perhaps it was a bad mistake, but then it began to rain, and I came back. I've had some bad luck this year, but today I was lucky to win the race.''

Championship leader Shinya Nakano could only manage seventh place, and consequently loses his place at the head of the table to team-mate Jacque after trailing home behind the impressive Alex Debon. Johan Stigefelt took eighth, while fancied front-runner Daijiro Katoh dropped to tenth at the flag. British privateer wild card Gary Haslam took 13th, with Julien Allemand, who left qualifying in an ambulance, took a meritable point in 15th.

Full results will appear at the end of the day's racing.....

Leading finishers - GP250.

1. Ralf Waldmann Aprilia
2. Olivier Jacque Yamaha
3. Naoki Matsudo Yamaha
4. Tohru Ukawa Honda
5. Jay Vincent Aprilia
6. Alex Debon Aprilia
7. Shinya Nakano Yamaha
8. Johan Stigefelt Honda
9. David Checa Honda
10. Daijiro Katoh Honda
11. Sebastian Porto Yamaha
12. Luca Boscoscuro Aprilia
13. Gary Haslam Honda
14. Vincent Phillipe Honda
15. Julien Allemand Yamaha