Xavier Siméon had a mixed weekend at the Mugello Circuit. Author of interesting times on Friday, he finished only 7 tenths from pole on Saturday. But this time only allowed him to take 19th place on the grid! On Sunday, when he was in 18th position in the race, a red flag almost reset everything.
As the drivers returned to the grid, Xavier, his teammate Simon and five other drivers were penalized for entering the track too late. In a complete imbroglio, a 2nd red flag was then issued, reason: too many drivers at the start in the pit lane...
Finally, it was decided to send the offenders to the back of the grid as a safety measure.
While the riders were completing a grid lap for the third time, Xavier unexplainedly lost control of his bike and was forced to retire.
The positive point of the weekend remains the times achieved during practice and qualifying. Xavier managed to reduce the gap with the drivers in front. From now on, he must concentrate on Barcelona which arrives in 15 days.
“The first race wasn't so bad. I was in the group fighting for eighth place and the feeling was good. When the red flags came out, everyone returned to the garage, but the real “mess” started before the new start. Nobody really understood the rules and many drivers were late. The stands were already closed when they wanted to go out for the observation tour. We were part of the teams that were penalized and the whole procedure was repeated. During the warm-up lap, I then did a big highside and I fell.”
Xavier's disappointment is immense. But he has already risen to face his next challenges and he will come back stronger. Next week, he will be at the start of the 20 km of Brussels and will do everything to achieve a great time. He will then head to Barcelona. On the Circuit de Catalunya, he will be keen to demonstrate that the progress made during his last races in terms of motorcycle settings is not the result of chance...
