Simon unhappy with Estoril pace and hoping to make amends in Valencia

Right at the end of its inaugural season, the Moto2 category served up one of its best races of the year in Portugal. One of the showcase events of 2010 for the 600cc prototype class, the Estoril round gave fans the kina of even racing that the introduction of the category had promised.

An attempt at an escape from Kenan Sofuoglu, crashes for two of the favourites for victory in Elías and Iannone and a podium full of new faces kicked off the racing at the Portuguese MotoGP event. Beginning at 11.15 local time, the race was half-wet for the riders, who displayed inicial caution. Stefan Bradl took the win, ahead of Alex Baldolini and Alex de Angelis.

Luck was on Mapfre Aspar rider Julián Simón’s side to a certain extent at the Circuito de Estéril, where he didn’t have his best race of the year. Overthinking and overcautious, the Spaniard was unable to ride with his normal speedy pace in Portugal. However, rival for the Moto2 runner-up spot, Andrea Iannone, crashed out of the race and allowed him to head to Valencia with the clear advantage in the hunt for second place overall. A bad start signaled the way the race was going to go for the Mapfre Aspar man, who eventually took the chequered flag in twelfth place.

12th Julián Simón: “I’m not happy with my performance today. From start to finish I was never comfortable and it wasn’t my best race mentally. We have to forget about it and think positive. The best thing about today is that I finished the race in the points. Even though I was lfar down the order, Iannone made a mistake that means the runner-up spot is more secure. In Valencia it is in our own hands. I’m spurred on by the thought of riding at home next weekend, at a track that I love and where I expect that I will go well. Uncertainty hit me hard today, as I didn’t want to make a mistake and was unable to ride as calmly as I usually do as a result. Perhaps the rear of my bike was a little soft and we didn’t choose the best tyres from the selection, but in general the bike was working well.”

Source: Mapfre Aspar Team