Mugello 250 & 125 race **SPOILER**

[feejer222]

Briefly:

125

A great race worth watching if you get chance. Bradley Smith ran with a broken bone in his foot and damage to a hand after a qualifying crash. He held 7th for much of the race and with 5 laps to go climbed through to take the lead. With a lap to go he was swamped at the end of the straight and finished 5th.

250

Simoncelli and Barbera led from the begining pulling away from the rest. They had a 4 second lead and kept exchanging positions.

On the penultimate lap they were on the start straight and Barbera was close to the rear of Simoncelli, he had moved out of the slipstream to make a pass. They were both in excess of 160mph when Simoncelli swung across the track to break any tow that he thought Barbera might have, not realising how close Barbera was behind him. Barbera rammed into the back of Simoncelli, pressing the front brake lever and locking the front wheel, sending him cartwheeling head first down the straight. He walked away but it could so easily have been a lot worse, particularly if there were other bikes around.

This is a technique that has been ridiculed a great deal especially in the 125's. It has always been an accident waiting to happen. There is no news yet but I imagine that the Barbera team will have something to say.

 

[Colonel Panic]

Briefly:
125

A great race worth watching if you get chance. Bradley Smith ran with a broken bone in his foot and damage to a hand after a qualifying crash. He held 7th for much of the race and with 5 laps to go climbed through to take the lead. With a lap to go he was swamped at the end of the straight and finished 5th.

250

Simoncelli and Barbera led from the begining pulling away from the rest. They had a 4 second lead and kept exchanging positions.

On the penultimate lap they were on the start straight and Barbera was close to the rear of Simoncelli, he had moved out of the slipstream to make a pass. They were both in excess of 160mph when Simoncelli swung across the track to break any tow that he thought Barbera might have, not realising how close Barbera was behind him. Barbera rammed into the back of Simoncelli, pressing the front brake lever and locking the front wheel, sending him cartwheeling head first down the straight. He walked away but it could so easily have been a lot worse, particularly if there were other bikes around.

This is a technique that has been ridiculed a great deal especially in the 125's. It has always been an accident waiting to happen. There is no news yet but I imagine that the Barbera team will have something to say.

What's Barbera's team going to say? Barbera had been drafting him on the right side up till that lap. Simoncelli didn't make a violent move to the left, more like moving out to break the draft. It is one of those unfortunate things that happens in racing.

 

[feejer222]

Simoncelli DID make a violent move to the left, that was why it happened. (EDIT LINK RENEWED AND WORKING AGAIN) VIDEO LINK If you watch the very last replay viewed from above you see that Barbera had already moved over to overtake and Simoncelli swerved even further.

These two have a history which ended in a fist fight last year. Having watched it again I would be tempted to say it was a deliberate move to stop him passing. Biaggi did it to Rossi 3 or 4 years ago and forced him onto the grass at 150mph. He stayed on.

There has been an epidemic of weaving on the long straights trying to break any tow, particularly in the 125 class. This was bound to happen, just lucky that no-one was badly hurt, I hope that something is done about it now.

PS How do you draft someone on the right hand side?

 

[Colonel Panic]

I have a subscription to MotoGP and watched it several times before I posted. Yes he did move left but as I said Barbera had been passing to the right on the previous laps. To say that Simoncelli did this to intentionally to hit Barbera is absurd. It is as much Barbera's fault for being so close that Simoncelli's moving left one bike width causes a collision. Spiff happens when racing.

What do you suggest they do? Put on training wheels that automatically deploy on the last straightaway thereby preventing any swerving.

Motorcycle racing is dangerous sport usually done by aggressive young men that will sacrifice their bodies to win a race.

 

[TestPilot]

I'm with Feejer on this. I thought Simoncelli's move was deliberate and dangerous. It's not the first time this has happened in the 250's, nor will it be the last until someone is seriously hurt. In all Simoncelli moved accross from about a meter from the edge of the track to mid-track, and, watching it frame by frame, I stick with my view - deliberate and dangerous.

 

[feejer222]

I have a subscription to MotoGP and watched it several times before I posted. Yes he did move left but as I said Barbera had been passing to the right on the previous laps. To say that Simoncelli did this to intentionally to hit Barbera is absurd. It is as much Barbera's fault for being so close that Simoncelli's moving left one bike width causes a collision. Spiff happens when racing.
What do you suggest they do? Put on training wheels that automatically deploy on the last straightaway thereby preventing any swerving.

Motorcycle racing is dangerous sport usually done by aggressive young men that will sacrifice their bodies to win a race.

We will have to agree to dissagree. If it wasn't deliberate, can you give me a reason why he did it?

STORY IN MCN "questions were raised over the legality of the move"

 

[Colonel Panic]

I have a subscription to MotoGP and watched it several times before I posted. Yes he did move left but as I said Barbera had been passing to the right on the previous laps. To say that Simoncelli did this to intentionally to hit Barbera is absurd. It is as much Barbera's fault for being so close that Simoncelli's moving left one bike width causes a collision. Spiff happens when racing.
What do you suggest they do? Put on training wheels that automatically deploy on the last straightaway thereby preventing any swerving.

Motorcycle racing is dangerous sport usually done by aggressive young men that will sacrifice their bodies to win a race.

We will have to agree to dissagree. If it wasn't deliberate, can you give me a reason why he did it?

STORY IN MCN "questions were raised over the legality of the move"

You are missing my point. The move was deliberate, taking out Barbera was not. Obviously the racing stewards also think it was a racing accident since they they let Simoncelli's win stand.