Round
4 – World Championship –
Sevlievo, Bulgaria, 11th May 2008
Sensational
first podium for Simpson
KTM UK had cause
to celebrate as their rider Shaun Simpson took part in the best
race of the 2008 season so far and was one corner away from winning
his first Grand Prix moto at Sevlievo. The Grand Prix of Bulgaria
represented the fourth round of fifteen in the FIM World Championship
and will live long in the memory of the 20 year old Scot who gained
his maiden podium result with third position.
It was a day
of two motos in contrasting weather conditions, watched by 27,000
spectators. The hard and fast circuit was dry and demanding for
the opening race while a period of rainfall saw temperatures drop
and the mud become slick and slippery. Obtaining a decent start
was essential, particularly as the layout saw many riders circulating
at a similar speed and overtaking was difficult.
Simpson took
fourth place in the first MX2 qualification heat that let him take
the seventh pick of positions in the start gate for the two 35 minute
and 2 lap Grand Prix motos. A positive start saw him inside the
top five around the first few corners but while anxious to move
up he made a mistake and slipped to the ground, losing positions.
He fought back to 11th place.
The second moto
occurred under a gloomy sky and light rain although it will stand
as one of the more memorable of Simpson’s career not only
for the significance of the result but in the manner of the entertainment
it provided to the entire crowd. Snaring the lead from factory KTM
rider Tommy Searle Simpson beat a path and set the pace at the front,
leading a Grand Prix for the first time. Searle applied pressure
and the pair were never more than three seconds apart with a fallen
and lapped Antonio Cairoli hanging around for fun.
Searle drew
alongside but fell briefly while trying to pass. He then gobbled
ground again to Simpson and made a successful move only for the
Scot to retaliate brilliantly and regained control. It came down
to a tense final lap and the tussle culminated when Searle tried
a different line on the final turn approaching the downhill finish
line and squeezed through to win by four tenths of a second.
With his points
total Simpson was still able to toast his first GP trophy and sample
world championship champagne.
“I am
happy to be up here and it is a new experience for me! At the beginning
of the year I knew I had some good speed and I did not expect to
get a podium this soon,” he said.
“In the
second race I turned tight on the first corner and passed Tommy
on the table-top. The track was a little bit slower and more to
my liking. I rode my own race, even though he was right behind me
and just couldn’t hold it until the flag,” he added.
“Tommy has been riding good all year and finishing ahead of
me, so to be in front and have him applying the pressure was something
new. He made a mistake which gave me a bit of breathing room for
a while. He was quicker though and caught me up; I led the whole
race but not the part I needed to!”
“I hope
I have broken the ice now,” he offered. “There are some
good tracks that I like coming up. Racing with these guys you can
pick up some good tips and lines. The main thing is to be up there
with the faster guys.”
James Noble
did not have the best weekend and confessed a dislike to the track.
The Englishman could not find a quick time in qualification which
left him with a lowly gate pick. He finished outside of the points
in Moto1 and managed 18th place in Moto2.
“I really
struggled with the track,” he admitted. “We changed
the gearing yesterday to get a bit more torque out of the bottom
end to help up the hills but I had trouble in qualifying –everyone
was so close - and put in me in a bad position in the gate. Two
bad starts and the fact that the pace was virtually the same meant
that I couldn’t do better than a couple of points, and I’m
really disappointed with that.”
Team Owner and
Manager Roger Magee commented “ what a race, and day for Team
KTM UK with our first podium! Shaun rode a brilliant, controlled
race 2 and showed that he can cut it with the best MX2 riders in
the World. This will now give him the confidence to progress even
further , and proves that his commitment and hard work has all been
worthwhile”.
In the world
championship standings Simpson is eighth but only 12 points away
from the top four. Noble rests in nineteenth.
The Team will
start the trek west and across to northern Italy this week as the
fifth round of the world championship
will
arrive on the doorstep of the presentable Mantova circuit –
north of Bologna – in just seven days time.
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