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Moto3, Simoncelli: "The slyest wins, not the best, we need severe penalties"

"The paved ride-off areas skew the result of the races. They might as well play on a Playstation instead of risking their lives on the track."

Moto3: Simoncelli: "The slyest wins, not the best, we need severe penalties"

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After each race, Paolo Simoncelli sets down his thoughts in black and white after the weekend. After the Austrian GP, he preferred not to comment on the disappointing results of his riders, but to talk about safety on the track. He's been very firm on the subject, invoking tougher penalties in all classes, because the riders' misconduct is skewing the results.

We leave you to his words.

Exactly one week from the Brno GP, we're going to be racing at the Red Bull Ring, Spielberg. Racing, so to speak. My riders took a day off and went out on the track to see the race as spectators. But I prefer to gloss over this topic today.

Otherwise, I have no other words than, ‘What a brutal Sunday!’ Accidents of this magnitude, so ugly to see, so dangerous, without having to mourn for someone, is something incredible. Some may call it a miracle, others luck. Whichever way you look at it, fate, like a professor at the blackboard, drew the dynamics of a potential catastrophe and left room to our imagination, to our mouths left wide open, to our eyes closed shut at that fateful moment in front of the monitors, and to our sighs of relief. On Sunday, fate only showed us what could happen, it reminded us: I decide, but today is not the time to cash in.
 
Now, I'd like to direct everyone’s attention to something that I consider very serious and that seems NOBODY cares about. Columnists, reporters… the concrete beyond the asphalt leads to SKEWING THE RESULT OF ALL THE RACES: Moto2, Moto3, and MotoGP !!! I've been saying this for a while, and I'll repeat until I'm blue in the face.

We no longer see real races. They seem like the virtual ones on a Playstation. A driver goes off the track, re-enters, overtakes, and maybe even wins the race or finishes second. They might as well start playing online instead of risking their lives on the track. Some could even earn more money. But tell me, what's the advantage of a rider who never fails? None! Nowadays, it's no longer the best rider who wins but the slyest, the one who's better at taking advantage of the green area outside of the curb and at cheating the regulations. How can a difference be made?
In the name of safety, the riders were given the opportunity to enter the corners faster and always take risks. Everyone brakes furiously, to the death, 'so if I go out, there's concrete and I'll re-enter later.' NO! We also see these scenes in the MotoGP. Look at the start on Sunday.

I believe that the time has come to say enough is enough and re-examine this rule, once and for all. Either remove the concrete and replace the gravel or MORE SEVERE PUNISHMENTS. I hope that Carmelo Ezpeleta will listen to my appeal, because it seems like the Federation commissioners don't really want to open their eyes to this."

Translated by Leila Myftija
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