Marco Simoncelli bounces back to top Estoril test

Marco Simoncelli shrugged off the bitter disappointment of crashing out on the first lap of Sunday’s Portuguese MotoGP race to top the timesheets at the end of yesterday’s Estoril test session.

The Italian ended with a best time of 1.36.211 to edge out Jorge Lorenzo by just 0.105s with Casey Stoner third and British rookie Cal Crutchlow proving to be the sensation of the test by powering his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine to the fourth best time.

Simoncelli was fastest though on board his factory Honda RC212V machine as he evaluated two new clutches for HRC and two new Bridgestone rear tyres being developed for the new generation 1000cc MotoGP bikes in 2012.

But while Simoncelli was pleased with his test performance, it only reinforced his frustration at blowing a golden chance to score his first MotoGP podium in Sunday’s race.

The former 250GP world champion crashed at only the fourth corner as he fell victim to the curse of the cold Bridgestone rear tyre.

Simoncelli said: “I could have had a very good race without the mistake and now my speed in the test makes me even more angry about the crash. But it was a good test. I tested two new clutches to improve the engine braking and one was definitely better, so I’ll use one bike with the new clutch and one with the old at the next race in Le Mans.”

“I also liked the new Bridgestone tyres. My best time with a race tyre was 37.1 but with the test tyre I made a 36.2, so I more or less one second better and that is a lot. The new tyre has much better initial warm-up and you have more grip right from the start.”