LE MANS, FRANCE: QMMF Racing Team celebrated a strong team result at the French Grand Prix, with Spanish rider Julian Simon riding to sixth and his Australian team-mate Anthony West scoring eleventh place.
Simon was within the top group of riders right from the start, finishing lap one in eighth position and moving up to seventh on lap three.
For most of the race, he battled with his fellow countrymen Alex Rins and Luis Salom, but took advantage when his rivals crashed a few laps from the end of the race.
West rode a heroic race, winning not only the battle against German riders Marcel Schrötter and Sandro Cortese, who couldn’t keep his pace in the end, but also against his severe cold.
Despite taking antibiotics to fight his flu on the practice days and before the race, West found enough energy to move up from 18th after lap one to eleventh when the chequered flag came down.
“We almost reached our goal,” Simon said yesterday.
“We aimed high yesterday saying a top five finish would be possible and today I finished sixth, which is not far off our target. My rhythm in the race was good, I was able to push a lot throughout the race and to ride consistently fast,” he added.
“The bike was better today than yesterday, I only had a small problem with the brake on the last lap, because the discs started to overheat.
“But all in all, I am happy because the team worked very well for us, especially on the chassis side.
We are improving and getting a little bit better every race, which is important. My start was good, I managed to pass a few riders early on. I then wanted to go faster and to make up more positions, but it wasn’t possible, so I remained with Rins and Salom and had a good fight.
I hope we can climb the next step in Mugello and do even better, but for the moment I am happy,” Simon said.
West, who finished in 11th spot, said collecting points is important.
“The finish and the result are quite okay with the points we took,” West said.
“I am just disappointed with the sickness I had, I feel ill and I was a little bit weak in some of the chicanes changing direction,” the Australian said.
“You need a lot of strength in those chicanes here to change direction and I just didn’t have the power, so I missed the turn a few times.
“On the rest of the track, I was quite strong apart from an issue with grip in some corners. I then had a long and exciting battle with Cortese.
“At the beginning of the race, I felt I was faster than him and I was fighting hard, but he was pulling away on the straights.
“I kept fighting and luckily, towards the end, the lap times of Cortese and my other rivals dropped off a bit whereas I was able to stay consistent, so I got Cortese back and was able to pass him.
“Now I am happy the race is over and I can rest again. I will continue with the antibiotics the doctor gave me. I feel they are working, but it’s the wrong time to take them when you are trying to ride,” West said.
THE PENINSULA
