San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli rides World Rally racing machine in England – MotoGP news
San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli had a great time experiencing a World Rally Ford machine in England on Friday, September 23, 2011.
The Italian MotoGP rider rode a Ford Fiesta RS WRC machine along WRC champion Mikko Hirvonen.
Simoncelli said, “It’s an honour to be invited by Castrol to drive a car like this. It took me a little while to get used to it but it’s incredibly well balanced once you get the feel of the controls. It’s always useful to share race experience and technical
knowledge with other drivers and riders and I’ve learned a lot today from Mikko and the team.”
The Finnish driver is a full time participant in the World Rally Championship. Hirvonen drives for Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. He recently won the Australian round in the 2011 WRC season.
Hirvonen said, “It’s great fun when Castrol allows us to meet other riders and drivers. Marco obviously has some serious talent. Considering it was his first time with this car, he put in some very impressive times.”
He helped Super Sic to ride and master the four wheels around a rally track. Simoncelli rode the WRC Ford machine for about 50 Km.
The Italian MotoGP rider is not unknown to the fact of rallying, as he participated in the Monza Rally show in 2010. Another rider from World Superbike championship was also with the racing duo, Jonathan Rea of Castrol Honda World Superbike team.
Hirvonen took both riders to a rally trip aboard his Ford Fiesta WRC at the forest stage. The venue was at the M-Sport headquarters of the team.
The Finnish WRC driver also expressed that Simoncelli can strive for a WRC career after moving out of MotoGP series.
Later after the forest ride in rally style, both riders went back stage to see the state-of-the-art rally facility at the Dovenby Hall. It provided a closer look at the Ford Abu Dhabi Rally Team.
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