If you missed today’s 250cc race at Mugello under the pouring rain, you missed a great race. A three way battle went on and a final lap that left you sitting on the edge of your couch biting your nails, that saw Mattia Pasini and Marco Simoncelli battle it out for first place.

The above video is the contact between Simoncelli and Spanish rider Alvaro Bautista and the race highlights. This move was investigated by the race direction who decided to punish the Italian with a “yellow card” warning, which means any further incident of the same nature this year may result in a suspension and a they gave Simoncelli a $ 5000 fine for endangering Bautista.

Simoncelli was not happy about the warning:

“I don’t think that I did anything wrong. I made a mistake, but it was a legitimate error. Alvaro saw me and closed the line anyway. I couldn’t disappear. And couldn’t have done anything to change the situation, if I had braked I would have fallen and taken him down. We got hooked together and for a couple of meters we had to go together. When anything happens with the Spaniards, they (race direction) never do anything. Remember Debon and Luthi? And Bautista and Lorenzo? Or when Barbera hit Pasini? Those were normal race incidents? So why is this different?
They told me I have to think more …”

Mattia Pasini who was in the Fuori Giri studio after the MotoGP race gave his opinion regarding the incident, he was behind the two riders when it happened, agreed with Simoncelli saying that the move was aggressive, but correct and that it was a normal race contact and he was right to try and that riding behind was impossible because you could barely see.

Former riders and close friends, Graziano Rossi (Valentino’s dad) and Marco Lucchinelli also present in studio, agreed with Pasini’s comment and that Simoncelli was right to try and that these things happen during races.

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