Simon fired up for Silverstone

There will be an air of nostalgia amongst the elder statesmen of the MotoGP paddock this weekend as the world’s premier motorcycle racing series returns to Silverstone for the 2010 British Grand Prix. The modified circuit is one of the longest on this year’s calendar, measuring almost 6km, and it promises to be one of the fastest, with its flowing corners reminiscent of the old Assen circuit, amongst others. The home of F1 in recent years, MotoGP returns this weekend after an absence of almost 25 years and it is here to stay.

Sunday signals the start of an exciting new future for Moto2 racing in the UK, with the new bikes, new circuit and a host of rookie riders sure to make things interesting. Mapfre’s two riders are ready to give their all in the first of three races in three weekends. Julián Simón always enjoys visiting England having won here on two occasions, including the first of his career. His team-mate Mike Di Meglio is also looking forward to arriving at Silverstone, a circuit he hopes is well suited to his riding style.

Julián Simón: “I can’t wait to get to Silverstone and have a look at the track. I’ve been told it is very fast and I am excited to see how the bike and I adapt to it. Mugello wasn’t an easy weekend for us because of the crash on Saturday so I want to work through an incident-free weekend and get back on the podium. We are a little way off the top positions in the championship at the moment so the objective is to put some good results together and move up the standings. I will miss Donington because I have great memories there, having won twice. However I am sure Silverstone will be another great track and we’ll have plenty to celebrate there. Such long circuits demand a lot of concentration, to make sure you don’t lose time in any section.”