Team Drive M7 Aspar's Aoyama 12th, Camier 16th in MotoGP Grand Prix of San Marino

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14/09/14. 13 GP SAN MARINO - MISANO/MARCO SIMONCELLI - RACE

Aoyama finishes twelfth despite lack of rear grip DRIVE M7 Aspar rider enjoys excellent first half to race but has to consolidate in latter stages Jorge Lorenzo started from pole position at Misano today but there proved to be no stopping Valentino Rossi from rolling back the years and taking a popular victory in front of his home crowd. Rossi gave chase to Lorenzo in the early laps, with Marc Márquez also battling for the lead until a crash on the ninth lap, before passing him and opening up a crucial advantage to seal victory on home soil for the first time since 2009. Lorenzo secured a Yamaha one-two for the first time this season, with Dani Pedrosa holding off Andrea Dovizioso for the final podium position.  Hiroshi Aoyama has taken big steps forward this weekend to overcome the issues he suffered at Silverstone, the Japanese rider setting a constant pace in the low 1'36s that looked certain to seal him the honour of finishing as the top 'Open' category rider. However, in the second half of the race the DRIVE M7 Aspar rider lost front grip and was eventually overpowered by Karel Abraham in the fight for eleventh position overall. Leon Camier also struggled for front grip throughout the race today and despite making up three positions in an explosive start he narrowly missed out on the points in sixteenth. 12th Hiroshi Aoyama: “It was a pretty tough race but my team did a great job with the set-up of the bike and I was able to push it hard from the start. Unfortunately in the second half of the race I lost a lot of grip from the front tyre, which hadn't happened all weekend so I didn't expect it. I tried to ride around the problem but by the end of the race I was losing half a second per lap.  Abraham was able to catch and pass me and even though I tried to pass him back it was impossible. Despite all that we can be optimistic because we improved this weekend in comparison to Silverstone.” 16th Leon Camier: “I was happy with the start but I need to talk about my riding style with the technicians and work out why I am wearing out the front tyre so quickly. I put a lot of load on the front and it was tucking in every corner from the start of the race. The higher track temperatures today and a full tank wasn't a good combination. I need to keep working hard to understand this bike and I need to learn how to manage my speed in corner entry. Obviously I have had to take on a lot of new things in a short space of time but I would still like to be faster. We encounter different tracks and different conditions every week but I need to find a way to be more consistent.”