M2: Valencian GP: Team Aspar race report
Julian Simon Clinches Runner-up Spot In Title At Cheste Kicking off at 12.15pm local time, the Moto2 race at Valencia was one of the most spectacular of the year -a fitting end to the maiden season of 600cc prototypes. Andrea Iannone stormed away ...
Julian Simon Clinches Runner-up Spot In Title At Cheste
Kicking off at 12.15pm local time, the Moto2 race at Valencia was one of the most spectacular of the year -a fitting end to the maiden season of 600cc prototypes. Andrea Iannone stormed away early but was hunted down by the chasing pack, with Julian Simon also in the mix. An exciting race of overtakes and battles across the field ended with a surprise victory for Karel Abraham, ahead of Iannone and Simon in a race in which World Champion Toni Elias crashed out. The pace was intense and the riders gave their all in what for many was their home round of the series. The first year of Moto2 ended with a typical race of close action, but with a final twist in the tale.
Although unable to take an elusive Moto2 victory, Mapfre Aspar rider Julian Simon had a satisfactory end to his year at the Comunidad Valenciana Grand Prix. The Spaniard set off from seventh, but had moved up to second after losing some places by the time the twelfth lap came around. The scene was set perfectly for a battle with Iannone. Julian won in 2009 at Cheste and was keen to do the same in Moto2, but in the end he had to settle for third and the runner-up spot in the World Championship.
Mike Di Meglio had a spectacular start, taking nine places by the end of the opening lap and five more in the next few times around the track. However, his progression was halted by after-effects of a crash in the morning warmup, and he dropped back down the order to 26th.
3rd Julian Simon:
"My goal was to win the race today and it was a pity that Toni fell at the
end because I had to change lines in order to avoid him. I was still able to
pass Andrea, but he got me back on the last corner when I left the door open
too far. I am happy in any case, because I had a great race -not like in
Estoril where I was too conservative. I showed today that I am a worthy
runner-up and I am a contender for the title in 2011. I want to thank the
team for their fantastic job. We had problems yesterday but were able to
solve them to make the bike work perfectly. We were missing a little
something to win the game, but being runner-up motivates me and I've ended
the year well. Now we have experience of these four-strokes, so I'm sure
that we will be after the title next year."
26th Mike Di Meglio:
"Today I had a great start and made up a lot of places. I hoped to carry on
like that, but the morning warmup crash hurt me a lot and my left arm was
aching. The pain was increasing with every lap and I couldn't keep the bike
up on the left handers. I also asn't able to hit the brakes hard. I tried to
lose as few positions as possible, just trying to reach the finish line."
-source: team aspar
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