Simpson frustrated in Spain

Simpson sees wasted chance at MXGP of Spain

LS Honda Racing’s Shaun Simpson trundled away from the
Spanish Grand Prix and the seventh round of fifteen in the FIM Motocross World
Championship frustrated at missing out on what could have been his best classification
yet in his maiden MX1 campaign.

The Scot was running as high as sixth and looking
comfortable at the compact, ordinary and stony La Bañeza
circuit
during the first moto but while trying to attack a weakened
ClementDesalle lost control of the CRF450R and hit the dirt. The former
British
Champion quickly remounted but in a rush to regain ground again went
down and
broke his radiator shroud. The hectic 35 minute an 2 lap sprint finished
with a
conservative 16^th position.

Eager
to make amends in the second race Simpson was denied
the chance after the flipping motorcycle of a falling Alvaro Lozano
smashedinto his and again caused damage to the radiator. This time on a
more serious
scale as the 23 year old had to pit for a replacement unit. Far behind
the rest
of the field Simpson re-joined the track but with slim hopes of getting
near
the points.

“It should have been a lot better,” he evaluated. “Two shit
starts but in the first moto I did a good job in coming through and reaching
sixth. I made a stupid mistake trying to pass Desalle and then crashed on my
own at slow speed. I ripped the shroud off and just had to ride around for what
points I could get.”

“I was ready for the second one and must have been near the
top ten but Lozano crashed in front of me and his rear wheel came around and
ripped the other shroud off as well as one side of the radiator. I had no water
and had to come-in. We changed it and I decided just to go out for a few laps
for a bit of extra training or whatever.”

“I can’t seem to get into any of those little gaps inside
the top ten at the moment but we will keep trying,” added Simpson who is 15^th
in the world championship standings in his rookie term.

After three events back-to-back Simpson and his Belgian team
will have the chance to compete on soil closer to home with the fourth round of
the Belgian series taking place at Tongeren this coming weekend. No rest for
the wicked as another three Grand Prix await with trips to Sweden, Germany and
Latvia ahead.

www.shaunsimpson.com

Information and fact-file
on Shaun Simpson (twitter: @shaunsimpson24)

-Shaun is 23 years old and will be 24 on 13^th
March 2012

-He is from Gauldry, Fife and splits his time between the
family home and his working base in Overpelt (Belgium)

-His first Grand Prix was at Isle of Wight in 2004

-He rode in the MX2 class for six years

-2011 is his first FIM Motocross World Championship campaign
in the premier MX1 category and on a 450cc four-stroke machine

-He has taken four MX2 Grand Prix podiums (Bulgaria and
Sweden 2008 and Holland 2009, Catalunya 2010) and won one moto (Holland 2009)

-Shaun was MX2 British Champion in 2008

-He rode for the KTM factory team in 2009 and 2010

-He has represented Great Britain at the Motocross of
Nations twice. The last in 2009 in Italy.

MX1 Moto1

1.
Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 39:48.680; 
2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:00.632; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA,
Yamaha), +0:04.248; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:06.261; 5. Clement Desalle
(BEL, Suzuki), +0:32.066; 6. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:33.997; 7. Rui Goncalves
(POR, Honda), +0:34.968; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:37.779; 9.
Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:38.369; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki),
+0:39.561; 16. Shaun Simpson
(GBR, Honda) +1:32.637

MX1 Moto2

1.
Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:30.932; 2. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +0:05.264; 3.
Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:05.326; 4. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha),
+0:07.147; 5. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:11.141; 6. Maximilian Nagl
(GER, KTM), +0:16.194; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:32.159; 8. Xavier Boog
(FRA, Kawasaki), +0:39.202; 9. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +0:47.336; 10.
Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:49.623; 23. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Honda) -5 laps

MX1 Overall result

1.
Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 47 points; 2. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 38
p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 37 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki),
36 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 33 p.; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 30 p.; 7.
Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 28 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 27
p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 25 p.; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 24
p. 19. Shaun Simpson (GBR,
Honda), 5 p

MX1 World Championship standings after 7 of 15 rounds

1.
Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 285 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 284
p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 250 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM),
225 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 204 p.; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA,
Yamaha), 199 p.; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 192 p.; 8. Jonathan Barragan
(ESP, Kawasaki), 164 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 161 p.; 10. Steve
Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 149 p.; 16.
Shaun Simpson (GBR, Honda), 89 p