Simoncelli wants time to get best out of Honda RC212V
Added on Monday, January 4th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Simoncelli wants time to get best out of Honda RC212V
Marco Simoncelli has asked for time to get to grips with the step up from 250cc to MotoGP but believes that he can get some strong results out of the Honda RC212V.
Simoncelli has made the step up from the 250cc championship, where he became champion in 2008, to the Gresini Honda satellite team for 2010 where he will form one half of an all-Italian rider partnership with Marco Melandri.
Simoncelli tested in a rookies-only test in Sepang before Christmas and, although lap times seemed to be of little concern, the 22-year-old struggled to keep pace with Hiroshi Aoyama and he believes that it will take time to fully get to grips with the jump to 800cc.
He told Gazzetta dello Sport: “The beginning in 250cc was really tough, especially the first year but after that there was a big improvement: let’s hope it will be the same in MotoGP.
“I hope I’ll learn quickly but, obviously, I need to stay calm. As in all classes, it will probably be relatively easy to get to a certain level, but to go really quick you need everything to be in shape: the rider, but also a bike that allows me to ride the way I want it to.”
The 22-year-old also believes that the underperforming Honda RC212V, can be competitive in 2009 despite Andrea Dovizioso, Toni Elias and Alex de Angelis having indifferent seasons in 2009.
“I think the RC212V is a good bike, because (Alex) de Angelis and Toni Elias were competitive at times,” he said.
“Dovizioso started very well, and then lost his way a bit: these bikes probably have so many aspects to sort out that it’s easy to lose the right way. We’ll have to be calm and not get disheartened.”
