More Punishment for Simoncelli at Catalunya?

[JustSomeDude]

Curious...

MOTOGP RACE DIRECTIONS CONVOKE MARCO SIMONCELLI AT CATALUNYA

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli has been summoned by the MotoGP race directions at Catalunya at the upcoming weekend to discuss his clash with Dani Pedrosa which took place a few weeks ago at Le Mans.

Full article... http://blogs.bettor.com/MotoGP-race-...GP-news-a72656

[sprtbkbabe]

His friendship with Rossi may not help him out with this one... d'oh

[Sean]

I think it was a dick move. I can also see what others were saying about Dani going in to the corner to hot. But bringing it up a couple weeks after the incident, is kind of lame.

[rybo]

So the question is:

Was it a reckless move on Marco's part

or

Was it a racing incident?

[Sean]

So the question is:

Was it a reckless move on Marco's part

or

Was it a racing incident?

The "almighty" Rybo doesn't have an answer for us?

[rybo]

The "almighty" Rybo doesn't have an answer for us?

I think you've mistaken me for someone else.


I have yet to see a camera angle that shows the relative positions of the bikes at the apex of the corner. Whomever was in front technically has the right-of-way.

I was having this exact discussion with some other race fans over the weekend and really just came up with more questions than answers. The incident happened early in the race. Marco really didn't need to make the move right then, he had lots of time and track to pass Dani. It was a bold place to make a pass compounded by a bold line. Passing around the outside going into a chicane means that you're going to end up with converging lines in the next corner. You better be on a pace to move past in a hurry to avoid the collision at the second turn. Dani hit the back of Marco's bike, so Marco was in front at the time of the collision, but I'm not sure if that meant he had the right of way or not.

Without question Marco seems to be near a lot of "racing incidents" this year. I think that means that he is at or over the limit a lot of the time. From a spectators perspective I like him. He's aggressive and fast and bringing some "flavor" to the accepted running order with the aliens leading the way. From a racer's standpoint Marco clearly has talent. His one off ride on the RSV4 in WSBK after winning the 250cc championship proved that.

My thoughts - he probably got the pass technically executed, but in doing so he put himself and another rider at risk. That's the kind of pass you make on the last lap when a podium position is on the line, not in the early stages of the race. He could have easily injured himself in addition to essentially removing Dani from the championship. His actions and aggerssion are consistent and for that reason I think it merits a closer look at his actions and his responsibility as a rider in the world championship.

[Sean]

From what I saw, Dani was in front until the corner exit, by which time Marco had passed him and more or less, decided to cut him off. So my question, coming from someone who knows very little about real racing; are their actual rules, or just etiquette when it comes to racing/causing accidents? Is it one big gray area? Are there consequences to breaking rules (if there are any)? Does it vary depending on the level of racing?

I think you've mistaken me for someone else.

[JustSomeDude]

I have yet to see a camera angle that shows the relative positions of the bikes at the apex of the corner. Whomever was in front technically has the right-of-way.

Since there isn't any aerial footage of the incident (as far as I know), we may never know who was in front. However, that begs the question, what is the definition of "in front" with respect to a passing maneuver in such tight quarters?

The reason I ask is- comments on a YouTube video (before it was pulled due to Dorna copyright claims) pointed me to Simoncelli's left knee in the head-on video at the point of contact, and forced me to reevaluate my position on this incident. If analyzed carefully - you can see Simoncelli's left knee squeezes into his bike as he hits the apex. This indicates to me that Pedrosa didn't "stand it up" or even come close to running into the back of Simoncelli. Rather, Simoncelli ran INTO Pedrosa's front tire with his knee, forcing Pedrosa to stand up the bike - resulting in the crash we're all now so familiar with.

Most of the clips out there have been pulled by Dorna, but I found this link which still shows the angle I referred to above: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xiq...-pedrosa_sport

The moment in question is at the VERY beginning of the clip. Watch Simoncelli's left knee, and how Pedrosa's bike reacts.

Thoughts?

[tecknojoe]

I think dani DID go in a little hot, but along the entire straight, even into the brakes, simoncelli didn't have enough room for a clean pass since he'd have to go from the outside. Way too aggressive on his part. It wasn't even the end of the race.

I could see him being told to sit out a race because he caused another rider great injury and ruined his season.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I like simoncelli, but I think that one was his fault. As to his riding too agressively, I think he paid his penalty, and they should have a serious chat with him (since he's known for this in the 250's too) and let him know that though there's no more penalties from this incident, that another is gonna cost him.

[vort3xr6]

Racing is racing.

[Valguard]

FIM Grand Prix regulation 1.21.2

Thats all I'm going to say.

[JustSomeDude]

Simoncelli gets a stern talking to...

The purpose of the meeting was to give all the parties the opportunity to discuss the incident at the French MotoGP in Le Mans that resulted in Marco Simoncelli being penalised with a ride through penalty and to draw a line under it.

From: http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/169...i_meeting.html

[Mother Goose]

I was having this exact discussion with some other race fans over the weekend and really just came up with more questions than answers. The incident happened early in the race. Marco really didn't need to make the move right then, he had lots of time and track to pass Dani. It was a bold place to make a pass compounded by a bold line. Passing around the outside going into a chicane means that you're going to end up with converging lines in the next corner. You better be on a pace to move past in a hurry to avoid the collision at the second turn. Dani hit the back of Marco's bike, so Marco was in front at the time of the collision, but I'm not sure if that meant he had the right of way or not.

Without question Marco seems to be near a lot of "racing incidents" this year. I think that means that he is at or over the limit a lot of the time. From a spectators perspective I like him. He's aggressive and fast and bringing some "flavor" to the accepted running order with the aliens leading the way. From a racer's standpoint Marco clearly has talent. His one off ride on the RSV4 in WSBK after winning the 250cc championship proved that.

My thoughts - he probably got the pass technically executed, but in doing so he put himself and another rider at risk. That's the kind of pass you make on the last lap when a podium position is on the line, not in the early stages of the race. He could have easily injured himself in addition to essentially removing Dani from the championship. His actions and aggerssion are consistent and for that reason I think it merits a closer look at his actions and his responsibility as a rider in the world championship.

Marco had already passed Dani the corner before, Dani was trying to by Marco in the "crash corner".

[duelist13]

It seems wrong to penalize Simoncelli to this extent, though I think his pass could have been executed more cleanly in other sectors.

I think the organizers know what happened (both were in a rush to get to the same piece of tarmac). Dani couldn't brake at the last minute (regardless of whether he intended to defend aggressively), Simoncelli was afraid of getting run off the edge if Dani decided to use all the track (regardless of whether he intended to "cut" Dani off). As nasty as the results were (I feel for the little guy), it seems to be a plain jane racing incident.