Marco Simoncelli satisfied with sixth place finish at Catalunya GP – MotoGP news
San Carlo Honda Gresini riders Marco Simoncelli finished the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya in sixth position after starting from pole position and believed he did well to get the result.
Simoncelli said, “I don't know if I held the clutch too long at the start, but it slipped and a lot of riders passed me, costing me a lot of time. After that I was unable to get back into the rhythm I had during practice and I was struggling, even though
the pace in general was slower.”
He had a pole seat to start the race but at the first corner of the inaugural lap, the Italian dropped to sixth place in the race. He was struggling behind Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso and Ducati Team rider Valentino Rossi.
The start drop cost Simoncelli to lose the confidence and stay in a low mode during the race. The difficult conditions were also adding to the problems of the Italian rider to stay away from the top riders’ pack.
Simoncelli was about a second apart from his Ducati team compatriot, Valentino Rossi, but managed to shorten up the gap to three tenths of a second in fifth place. When the race received rainfall with about 12 laps to go, Simoncelli decided not to risk the
race and drove the bike back to the garage with some decent points.
He thought he had performed well at the weekend by completing the race. Although he did not finish on the podium but he achieved one of his goals which was to complete a race.
San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Hiroshi Aoyama was unfortunate to retire from the race after a crash.
Aoyama expressed his views, “It hasn't been a good weekend for us and today I made a mistake. I crashed and took De Puniet with me, but it was completely my fault. I don't know what to say other than I want to get to Silverstone and forget about this Grand
Prix.”
San Carlo Honda Gresini team principal Fausto Gresini was also content with Simoncelli’s finish and felt sorry for Hiroshi Aoyama.
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