Simon satisfied with 5th after difficult weekend

The Moto2 Czech Grand Prix was delayed until 12.20pm local time on Sunday, parto f the domino effect caused by rain before the 125cc contest. The track was dry for the intermediate class’ first visit to Brno, and the twenty laps provided the best race of the day. The opening six laps saw a clustered group at the head of the field, but the second part of the battle took place with Elias, Iannone and Cluzel at the front. Elias took the victory, ahead of Yuki Takahashi and the aforementioned Iannone.

Mapfre Aspar’s Julián Simón was starting from ninth on the grid, and things got worse for the Spaniard as he took off slowly from the line. He was unable to tail the likes of Elias in their push for the front group, but rolled up his sleeves to make up eight places and finish fifth. Maintaining fourth place in the overall standings, the reigning 125cc World Champion is pushing hard to make the jump up to Moto2 race winner.

Mike Di Meglio was unable to mirror his teammate’s comeback. The Frenchman also had a problem on the start line, and a problem with his Suter’s engine meant that a comeback resulted impossible. He passed the chequered flag in twentieth -not the result that he was expecting from Brno.

5th Julián Simón: “I think that this fifth place is a positive result, because I gave my all and couldn’t have gone any master. It was a matter of getting a better start in order to be at the front at the beginning, and not doing that meant that the race wasn’t so easy. I am still satisfied with the fact that I kept my head straight and was able to make the comeback. I grew in confidence through overtaking people in the group. When I just had Cluzel left I tried a pass on the last lap, but the bike went off line a little and I thought it best to back off and not take the risk. Despite my bad start, we finished with a good result that keeps us in fourth place overall. Our goal isn’t to be fourth, but we have to keep on working to improve the bike. I hope that the situation will be better in Indianapolis. I will need to work on my starts, and my bike is lacking a bit of development, so we have to keep chipping away in order to move into a position to win races.”

Source: Mapfre Aspar Team