Simoncelli

[Dickie]

What's the opinion of that decision then?

Load of bollocks I think, mainly due to the inconsistency. Didn't Rossi do something very similar, if not worse, to Stoner a few weeks ago?

[Dave]

Drive thru penalty...why ...it was racing

Stupid decision

[SS50]

Bit of bad press influinced that decicion i would think, Which one of them on the track hasnt done that or worse before?

[sneezey]

Yep stupid decision, kind of poo you expect from F1

[Akrapovic]

Yup. pile of pi5h.

I watched it on BBC due to my location and Steve Parrish was correct in saying that he should have been allowed to continue and if found guilty then a time penalty could have been imposed once they looked at the data. As it stands, he cant get his places back.

Was good to see Rossi do well though.

[steve]

I think Simoncelli was robbed , he seemed to be taking the right line into the corner an pedrosa was taking a tighter line to defend his position , pedrosa was going way too quick to make the turn , I was happy to see Vale finally get a podium tho

[Gazza]

pedrosa was going way too quick to make the turn ,

Exactly has he did when taking out Nicky Hayden at Estoril in 2006. I think the camera angle doesn't necessarily do Simoncelli justice. Danni seemed to straigthen up long before he hit Marco. Probably a 50/50 racing incident.

The trouble with all this bullshit is that it stops rides from trying to win in future races. This is MotoGP FFS, not kindergarten sports day!

Marco Simoncelli has defended his attempt to regain second place from Dani Pedrosa at Le Mans on Sunday, which left Pedrosa with a broken collarbone and Simoncelli with a ride-through penalty.

The pair clashed moments after Pedrosa powered past the Italian along the back straight, on lap 18 of 28.

The Repsol Honda rider was on the tighter inside line heading into the following left-right Esses, and contact occurred after Simoncelli tried to ride around the outside of Pedrosa.

As the Gresini Honda rider swung into the corner he made contact with Pedrosa's front wheel, sending the 2010 title runner-up to the ground.

Simoncelli was able to continue but penalised with a ride-through by Race Direction, ending his hopes of a debut MotoGP rostrum.

However, Simoncelli insists that he braked no later than normal and gave Pedrosa room.

“I am unhappy because a result that was within my reach was denied and, above all, because of the fact that Pedrosa is hurt,” began Simoncelli.

“In my opinion the incident went like this: Pedrosa was having a bit of difficulty – I had pulled alongside him and passed him. 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.”

The hard-riding Italian has been the subject of recent criticism for his aggressive riding, something Simoncelli thinks played a major factor in his penalty.

“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.”

[IZINBARD]

Drive thru penalty...why ...it was racing

Stupid decision

[erin]

Stoner got a £5k fine for punching another rider during practice yet Simoncelli gets much worse just for doing what he was meant to do, Race his bike Think is was out of order myself.

If thats how they want to play it, Rossi should have had the same punishment a few ago & Stoner should have not been allowed to race at all for his actions yesterday.

Just my 2P

[Big Little Dave]

Defo a heap of crap, though he was gettin a few complaints from some of the riders through the practice which may be a reason why he got the penalty, and one of the guys who complained was Lorenzo. What a shock there, he really is after Simoncelli

[Zax]

Simoncelli defends controversial overtake

Le Mans MotoGP: Marco Simoncelli defends controversial overtake
By Matthew Birt - MotoGP  16 May 2011 09:53
Marco Simoncelli has defended himself against a renewed barrage of criticism after he was involved in a controversial incident in yesterday’s Le Mans MotoGP race that left Dani Pedrosa with a broken right collarbone.

Simoncelli and Pedrosa were contesting second place on lap 18 when they collided on the entry to the second chicane.

Trying to overtake on the outside, Simoncelli cut in front of Pedrosa and with nowhere to move, the Spaniard clipped the back of the San Carlo Gresini Honda RC212V machine.

Pedrosa was sent tumbling out and broke his right collarbone as he rolled over a raised kerb on the opposite side of the track.

Simoncelli though stayed upright but was penalised with a ride through penalty that dropped him from second to fifth as his search for a maiden MotoGP podium continues to the next round early next month at the Catalunya track near Barcelona.

The 24-year-old said: "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 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 the 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, I am unhappy about it, and I want to avoid any controversy regarding the penalty, but I believe that my ride through was a result of all the talk over the past few days."

For the exclusive thoughts from Simoncelli, see the May 18 issue of MCN.

[Gazza]

What's the opinion of that decision then?

What a tosser