The age-old adage ‘to finish first, first you must finish,’ proved true for Julian Simon (QMMF Racing Team) in Germany. Drawing on 13 years of full-time racing in the World Championship, Simon soon found a quick but safe rhythm and settled into the race. His start wasn’t fantastic, but within ten laps he was inside the top ten from 17th on the grid. There were a huge number of crashes throughout the field and Simon soon found himself on track for a potential podium as the likes of Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) and Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) fell. With a ten second advantage over fourth place, Simon crossed the line to take third place.
"I also thought of my friends Luis Salom, Marco Simoncelli and Shoya Tomizawa that are not with us any more. As you get older, you think a lot about such things and I want to dedicate my success to them"Simon was overcome with emotion, taking his first podium since the Valencia GP in 2012. The former Moto2™ World Championship runner-up hasn’t had an easy time since that last podium and spent most of the German GP nursing an injured ankle.
Julian Simon: “In the beginning, it was difficult because I was surrounded by many riders and visibility was very poor due to the water spray. But as the race went on, I started to find a better rhythm and to recover positions. Of course it helped in the end that many riders crashed, like Morbidelli, Rins and my own teammate Xavier Simeon. The conditions were very tricky and it was easy to make a mistake. When I finally crossed the line, it was a very sweet moment and a great feeling for me. I wouldn’t compare it to the day I won the 125 title in 2009, but it was still very special to be rewarded for all the work we put in.
“In the moment of glory, I also thought of my friends Luis Salom, Marco Simoncelli and Shoya Tomizawa that are not with us any more. As you get older, you think a lot about such things and I want to dedicate my success to them. I am very happy with what we achieved today, for QMMF, for my crew and for myself. With this podium finish, I want to thank QMMF for giving me the opportunity to race on this level and I also want to thank my technicians for their fantastic work this weekend!”