June 25, 2011 -- Updated 1751 GMT (0151 HKT)
Ben Spies helped Yamaha celebrate 50 years of racing in world championships with his first MotoGP victory at Assen.
(CNN) -- American rider Ben Spies claimed his first race victory in motorcycling's elite class on Saturday, but his team Yamaha's 50th anniversary celebrations were spoiled by a crash involving world champion Jorge Lorenzo.
Lorenzo was furious after being sent tumbling by pole-sitter Marco Simoncelli on the opening lap of the Dutch Grand Prix at Assen, and lost ground on MotoGP championship leader Casey Stoner after getting back up to finish sixth.
The Spaniard now trails Honda's Australian rider by 28 points after seven of 18 races this season, and was quick to point the finger at Simoncelli -- whose collision with Dani Pedrosa at Le Mans left last year's championship runner-up with a broken collarbone.
Simoncelli was given an official warning after that May 15 incident, since when Pedrosa has been sidelined.
Simoncelli claims second MotoGP pole
"You saw what happened on the first lap on the TV," Lorenzo told the MotoGP website.
"Of course he doesn't want to take me out, that's not his intention, but I think the problem is that he's not very conscious about the risks there are in the category, with this bike and these tires.
"I thought he learned from the past, from the controversy he created, like what happened with Dani, but it's clear that he doesn't learn at the moment.
"I hope he learns in the future, but at this moment I don't have any respect for him because he is causing a risk to all the riders."
Simoncelli apologized for the incident, blaming his San Carlo Honda Gresini machine's cold rear Bridgestone tire.
"I tried to overtake Lorenzo in the second turn and I didn't feel that I took too high a risk, but I lost the rear because of the cold tire -- without throttle -- in the middle of the corner and I crashed. I took Lorenzo in the crash and I'm sorry for him," said the Italian, who finished ninth.
Pedrosa crash overshadows Stoner's French MotoGP success
Spies, who joined the main Yamaha team this year to replace seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi, was delighted after bettering his second-placing at Indianapolis last year.
"It felt good to do it here this weekend, in the Yamaha 50th colors with all the greats watching. I guess it added a little bit of pressure now that I think about it," the 26-year-old said after starting the race second on the grid behind Simoncelli.
"It was strange because it was one of the most comfortable races I've had, and it resulted in a win. I had a good feeling with the bike at the start of the race so I pushed to make a gap.
"Even after I was three or four seconds ahead of Casey, when he pushed to try to catch me, I still had some reserve I could use, so I could speed up if I needed to."
Stoner, the 2007 world champion, earned his sixth podium finish this season as he finished 7.697 seconds behind Spies.
The 25-year-old was happy with his performance following a crash in practice on Friday.
"I'm a little bit sore. In the middle part of the race I started to have some problems in the left hand corners with the shoulder, but in general we knew we didn't really have the pace to stay with Ben," he said.
Honda teammate Andrea Dovizioso finished third to retain that position in the overall standings, while Rossi was fourth ahead of Ducati teammate Nicky Hayden.
Spies' former Yamaha Tech 3 teammate Colin Edwards was seventh, while Honda also claimed eight and 10th through Japan's Hiroshi Aoyama and Tony Elias of Spain.
Credit: CNN (www.cnn.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment