Marco Simoncelli To Face Race Direction At Barcelona For Pedrosa Crash

By David Emmett | Mon, 30/05/2011 - 16:56

Marco Simoncelli has been called to face Race Direction at Barcelona, to answer questions about the incident between himself and Dani Pedrosa at the Le Mans Round of MotoGP. Below is the official press release, analysis to follow:

Statement from the MotoGP Race Direction  

The Race Direction will call Italian rider Marco Simoncelli during the Catalunya Grand Prix this week, to further discuss the incident during the MotoGP race at the French Grand Prix in Le Mans.

MotoGP
Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
Le Mans, France
Dani Pedrosa
Marco Simoncelli
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Comments

Oh, please. Even if I thought he did something wrong this is a prime example of bullying! Let's all pick on one guy. And he is on the ground, too!

Well, I hope he knows how to hit back. I know who I'll be cheering for from now on. Go Marco!

Finally SuperSic will be able to straighten out some facts. This can only be a good thing, right? They've already given the ride through - so they can't give another penalty? I hope Race Direction is starting to realise what a bad decision that was.

I wonder if he will mentioned anything else like Lorenzo's pass during the same race...

"rockstar cap lorenzo" ... Judging others no knowing anything about the person respektively human being is not very intelligent/conscious. If you are German (Tärkasten), you should watch the new "Jorge - Lorenzo auf dem Weg zum MotoGP Champion" DVD and "learn" something about the person / human being behind the MotoGP "puppet" ...

i'll dont watch it and frankly and i dont have interest in watch it, just try to compare the attitudes, is more correct and respectful the attitude of elias as a champion of Moto2 even passing to the leader class, and his form is completely distinct.

¿did he disrespect his collegues?
¿did he point with the finger against a collegue than his riding is aggresive even he doing the same thing in the past?
¿did he like to humilliate the competitors?

Elias is a example of chivalry and what lorenzo preaches is not.
i dont question the talent of lorenzo, he's is good, what i put in question is his attitude.

Marco's riding even this year has managed to seem more and more wreckless. Dani walked away with "only" one broken bone. Hopefully it doesn't take a more serious incident for Marco to realize he's a fast rider and that he should ride using his head a bit more.

If they were only to use the same set of rules for each and every rider. The problem is not implementing a rule but not implementing it for all. Rossi, Lorenzo, Stoner can do as they please and get away with only a comment from the press while the "race direction" remains mum. But Simoncelli not only gets punished, faces the Race Direction in France, faces HRC in France also, but then again has to face the Race Direction before the next event. If these rules were implemented in 2006 and 07 Rossi and Lorenzo would have been out of job. Just remember their antics in MotoGP and 250 cc. Back then it was called racing.

You appear to be generalising here. Stoner copped a 5K fine for his incident with de Puniet, which wasn't even in the actual race. They have both since apologised and acknowledged their part in what happened.

As for Simoncelli getting punished AND having to face race direction at Le Mans - who do you think issued the penalty? Of course they want to have a chat with him afterwards - and he has the right to an audience with them! I wouldn't go assuming it was all one way communication. Don't forget - HRC do provide him with a couple of factory-spec RC212Vs each race, and that is a big investment. As others have mentioned here, his comments to race direction in Barca might mention his good friend JL99. I'd say after the last few races that the whole paddock is on probation and they will want to draw a line now for next year's CRT riders.

Super Sic is a big boy (I hear "he's actually 6'5", 6'9" with the fro") and I can't see him taking a backward step. He has the skills to excel in this sport for many years to come, but he needs to temper his aggression so that, like Fletch, he can "truly define grace under pressure" :P

This isn't 2006 or 07 though. This is 2011 and if Marco at least wasn't trying to sound that he'll ride differently then he wouldn't have said "Overall on reflection I have realised where I have gone wrong and in the future I will try at certain times to evaluate the situation better and be a little more cautious."

Just need to be confident that ALL the riders are getting the same support / treatment by the powers that be. I imagine that if Sim had battled with Stoner along the lines of the famos VR46 bust up at Laguna a couple of years back, the poor guy would be serving a ban. IMHO, Marco's biggest 'crime' is getting too close to alien performance levels. That was never in the script....

Agreed.

I suppose we can expect this same treatment for others in the future, which worries me.

Of course the bias is already clear thanks to Lorenzo's reckless pass that was ignored.

GP is getting dumber and dumber each year. Just wait for next year when all the crazy moto2 guys on back marker bikes are added to quals and racing.

We'll be talking politics while the factories produce parades. Welcome to formula 1.

Or did anyone else notice the black tire marks left on MS's left knee/thigh from DP's front wheel. This is before DP pick his bike up to avoid the collision. MS left him no where to go and deserved the drive through.

When you invoke Lorenzo's name in an incident involving Simoncelli and Pedrosa. Lorenzo had nothing to do with this incident and bringing him into the discussion certainly shows a certain bias.

I suspect that Marco is being called to race direction for a "settle down" talk. Sort of like being called to the principal's office. If they were going to levy more of a penalty they would have done it and notified Marco by mail. This is more of a "we will be watching you, so be on your best behavior" moment. Nothing more...

Even though I feel that Marco was in the wrong, enough is enough. If one penalty and all the rider comments weren't enough to convince him, then likely nothing will. Multiple penalties for one incident is getting out of hand, if this is what they have in mind. Let's just get on with the show!

Far Canal (not verified)
12 years 4 months ago
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This sounds like the end result of an Alberto Puig whinge-fest. Six week after the event - ridiculous.

So much for a "clean slate" and judging each event on it's own merits. Calling him back in and making it public is making a statement that they are watching him and he has been singled out. Just let the guy race already. If he does it again, penalize him again. If he keeps crashing and getting penalized, by the end of the year he'll be out a job.

I'll be glad once we get to the meat of the season; once the flag drops, the BS stops (or something like that).