Assen MotoGP: Marco Simoncelli sorry for early error

Marco Simoncelli took centre stage for all the wrong reasons again in Assen yesterday after he instigated a crash that further dented Jorge Lorenzo’s hopes of retaining the MotoGP world title in 2011.

Starting from pole position, the San Carlo Gresini Honda was chasing the fast starting Ben Spies when he high-sided his RC212V at the fifth corner.

With no chance to take evasive action, Lorenzo also tumbled out in the incident and the Spaniard was heavily critical of his Italian rival after he recovered to finish sixth in the 26-lap race.

Simoncelli was also able to remount and salvage ninth but after his infamous collision with Dani Pedrosa in Le Mans last month, the last thing he needed was to be involved in yet another major talking point.

The former 250GP world champion said: “In this race you can’t put it all down to bad luck, but the truth is that I was very naive. It was the first left-hander, the asphalt was cold and, although I don’t think that I went in too hard to get past Lorenzo, I felt that I couldn’t hold back because I was third and close to the front two.

“There was time though, and I could have waited. I am unhappy to have caught Lorenzo up in my crash and can only apologise to him.

“The only consolation, small as it is, is that I was able to pick the bike up and finish the race and put down some good times –despite having parts and pegs missing from the bike and the back of my helmet digging in. It is another bad experience for me and I am going to try and bear it in mind, without losing focus and motivation.”

Simoncelli said he hadn’t apologized to Lorenzo in person but while he was sorry, he said his mistake was a racing incident.

He added: “I haven’t seen him and I want to say sorry again that he was involved in my crash but this is racing and finished.”

With Casey Stoner finishing second, Lorenzo now trails the Aussie by 28-points after seven rounds of the 2011 world championship.

For more reaction to the Simoncelli/Lorenzo crash, see the June 29 issue of Motor Cycle News.