Jorge Lorenzo has spoken out once again in criticism of Marco Simoncelli after the Italian rider's crash effectively took them both out of Saturday's Dutch TT at Assen. The two collided on the first lap while battling for second as Simoncelli tried to recover from being overtaken at the first corner.
This was the latest in a series of high-profile incidents for the Gresini rider who is fast building a reputation as the 'bad boy' of the MotoGP paddock. The 24 year old came together with Lorenzo during a physical battle during last season's final race at Valencia and was given a ride-through penalty after making contact with Dani Pedrosa at Le Mans this season.
Pedrosa suffered a broken collarbone in the accident six weeks ago and hasn't raced since while Lorenzo was frustrated that the incidents have continued to take place.
“Of course Simoncelli doesn't want to throw me off the track, that wasn't his intention but I think he is not very conscious about the risks in this class with these tyres. I thought he learnt from the past and the polemic he created with Dani but it's clear he hasn't learnt.”
Despite seeing Ben Spies take victory on the sister bike, Yamaha Factory Racing team manager Wilco Zeelenberg was still disappointed, and was scathing in his criticism of Simoncelli.
“A very tough race, mixed feelings here as we are very disappointed by the action with Simoncelli, It was a racing accident but pretty stupid.”
The crash during today's race dropped both to the back of the field but the Spaniard did manage to salvage sixth place, but has now dropped 28 points behind series leader Casey Stoner who finished second.
“The good thing is that we finished in sixth and took some points” added Lorenzo.” I was fast with a good pace. The championship is now more difficult so we have to go all out to win races and go fast. We are making changes to the bike that are making it better with stability to brake harder and deeper so I think we can go to Mugello and be more competitive like Ben demonstrated today. I want to say a big congratulations to him for his first GP win and also thank you to all my guys who again worked really hard all weekend to give me a competitive bike.”
The two will renew hostilities next weekend at Simoncelli's home race, the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello as Lorenzo looks to put his championship hopes back on track.
