After a successful weekend racing in Assen, Olly Simpson headed to the 4th round of the Red Bull Moto GP Rookies Cup in Sachsenring Germany full of confidence. Olly started off well in the first free practice session setting the fastest time which gave his confidence a real boost, however things were to change quickly in practice 2.
“When we started it was dry but the rain came on the second lap so we had to change the tyres, unfortunately for the rest of the race it was half wet half dry which made it difficult and I didn’t set a good time”,
said Olly.
All was not lost for Olly though with a massive thunderstorm causing the track to be washed out prior to qualifying and the session being cancelled.
“You take the good with the bad in racing however I had a bit of luck here. The officials went off the quickest times from free practice one and two which meant I got pole position”.
With two races to go, one on Saturday and one on Sunday Olly had every right to look forward to a podium finish and took full advantage of pole position and led the race for the first lap until things took a turn for the worst.
“I got too aggressive on the throttle and high-sided on the first lap. I didn’t let the tyres warm up enough which was a big mistake that I won’t make again”.
In race two Olly also got off to a good start leading the race once again and he was determined not to make the same mistake again.
“My plan was to make a steady pace for the first four laps to get the tyres up to race temperature. I was going well and in the front group but unfortunately going into turn one I hit a small bump which caused the front to unload and then I tucked the front end and crashed out of the race. This was very upsetting because the bike was set up very well had good pace and I knew I could have done well”,
lamented Olly.
Another weekend racing over and a bit more learnt. Olly’s next race for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup is in BRNO, Czech Republic and he is really looking forward to it.
“Now I can learn from my mistakes at Brno because I like the track a lot. And a big thank you to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for supporting me through the highs and lows of this racing adventure”,
concluded Olly.
