Marco Simoncelli blames cold tyres for accident at Estoril - MotoGP Update
San Carlo Honda Gresini’s rider, Marco Simoncelli, says that inadequate tyre temperature was the reason for his accident at the bwin Grande Premio de Portugal.
The Italian was sure about his performance and felt that he would have been among the winning contenders for the third round of the 2011 MotoGP season.
His weekend at Portugal started on a great note in the free practice session, which continued into the qualifying session. He stood close to claim his first pole position but the accident he got caught into, hindered him to sit at second position on the
starting grid.
Simoncelli headed into the first corner sustaining his position, but while exiting, he faced a severe power-slide. Repsol Honda’s rider, Casey Stoner, was behind Simoncelli and experienced the same high side. The Italian was short of luck on the fourth corner
in the first lap. He hit an extreme power-slide on exiting the fourth bend, which unfortunately ended his race on a dismal note.
Simoncelli, while speaking about his accident after the race, said, "I did maybe a little mistake. But I think the fault is of the cold tyre on the left side, because in the exit of Turn 1 we inclined the bike a little bit on the left on acceleration and
there for the first time I lost the rear.”
‘Super Sic’ was not ready to accept the fact of his miscalculation about handling the corner, but called the low tyre temperature as the factor to trigger the high side. The Italian rider was not pleased with the obnoxious accident and felt that the incident
was a great loss for the team and their performance in the race.
Simoncelli said that he was helpless with the incident and added, "So in the other corners I paid attention, especially in Turn 4, I did the corner with one gear higher to have the bike more neutral and smooth but in the middle of the corner, without throttle,
I crashed. There was nothing I could do."
San Carlo Honda Gresini’s prime rider was still in high gear after his race weekend, as he said that it was equally important for him to show that he was fast enough to fight for the victory.
The Italian rider regretted the fact that he missed out on the golden opportunity to secure the podium finish in Estoril. On the other side, he was happy to be fast and confident to strike back with full potential, in the next round at the Le Mans circuit.
Simoncelli had a weekend of arguments with Jorge Lorenzo over track ethics. The scene was created at the press conference after the qualifying session of the Estoril GP. Simoncelli has now set his eyes on the glory at the French GP, to be held on May 15.
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