UNINTENTIONAL INCIDENT!

Marco Simoncelli and his team are disappointed this afternoon. An incident in the Le Mans race has left a bad taste in the mouths of the Team San Carlo Honda Gresini –not least because of the resulting injury to Dani Pedrosa. It also led to the missing out on a praiseworthy podium for rider Marco Simoncelli. Previous controversies over the past few weeks perhaps led to the punishment for an unintentional incident. The team are disappointed to have missed out on second place after a great race, and reiterate that the collision was unintentional on Simoncelli’s part.

Marco Simoncelli (5th)

“I am unhappy about what happened, because a result that was within my reach was denied and above all because of the fact that Pedrosa is hurt. In my opinion the incident went like this: Pedrosa was having a bit of difficulty –I had pulled alongside him and passed him on the previous three laps. When he passed me back I was not intentionally trying to resist, and my telemetry shows that I got on the brakes at the same point as on previous laps. I think that he had hit the brakes well before the corner, and I found myself on the outside of him and in front on the entry to the corner. I didn’t want to back off, so I left him with a metre between myself and the kerb in order to go in. I saw that it was tight, so I tried to adjust my position. That was when he touched my back wheel and went down. I repeat that I am unhappy about it, and I want to avoid any controversy regarding penalisation, but I believe that my ride through was a result of all the talk over the past few days. Now I have to focus on Barcelona.”

Hiroshi Aoyama (8th)

”I am fairly satisfied, because I was feeling good on the bike. Despite this, the lap times were slightly slower than we were expecting. I have taken more points in the standings, and I am confident about Barcelona.”

Fausto Gresini

“I believe in the good intentions of our riders. This was a racing incident that could happen at any time, and in which Marco had passed Pedrosa. I think he was not responsible for causing the accident. We are obviously very displeased, above all with the fact that Dani is injured. It wasn’t intentional, and I think that all the controversy beforehand has fanned the flames of an unpleasant situation. Marco really deserved a podium and second place. Unfortunately, for various reasons it didn’t happen, but we will make that our goal for Barcelona. Aoyama did well and continues to pick up points and make progress.”