The Grand Prix of Spain was a troublesome sixth meeting of the FIM Motocross World Championship for Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM UK as Shaun Simpson guided his 450SX-F to eleventh position in the premier class of MXGP and rescued a turbulent weekend thanks to a decent sixth place in the second moto. Sunshine and temperatures in the mid-twenties greeted the first real taste of summer for the series as Talavera de la Reina also provided a typically gritty, tight and difficult hard-pack track.
Simpson faced adversity on Saturday as he had to fine-tune his suspension set-up for the rocky terrain and then he had a problem with his goggles in the Qualification Heat that serious affected his vision and he could only circulate to seventeenth. The wide start straight rewarded prowess out of the gate and ’24’ needed decent launches on Sunday to have any ambitions of the top five as viable passing opportunities were few and far between due to the curling and narrow layout.
Matterley Basin next week will mean that the team can enjoy their home Grand Prix. The wide and flowing track near Winchester should see a busy attendance for the seventh round of eighteen on the schedule on May 23-24.
Shaun Simpson:
“I just wanted to try and finish the weekend on a high note really because we were thinking ‘when are we going to catch a break?’ And not just a rear brake! Goggles yesterday and brake: today we were pretty stressed out and it wasn't the easiest GP. Anyway to finish the day with a sixth and hold eighth in the championship was decent. I’m ten points behind Villopoto now and the last moto concretes in my mind that fifth-sixth-seventh is my bracket at the moment and where I need to be. It will be a long drive home but I will think about my speed and the way I used the track to my advantage and my bike; we are not far away but we need to keep working really hard. We’ll have a little race in Belgium next weekend; a low-pressure job and just a ride-around. Between now and Matterley we’ll go back, drag everything out and get it looked over and sorted. Come Matterley we’ll be in a good position. It’s a track I quite like so if it’s prepared well then I could be in for another good day there.”
Via - Hitachi Construction Machinery REVO KTM
Photo - Juan Pablo Acevedo
