MotoGP rookie Marco Simoncelli fell three times during the US Grand Prix weekend at Laguna Seca, with his final tumble occurring while holding ninth place on lap 19 of the race.
"Bad things usually come in threes and that proved to be the case for me this weekend," said the Italian. "I crashed again in the race and it was a shame because I was running really well.
"I could have finished seventh but in any case I was struggling more under braking today than yesterday and I couldn't find my pace particularly over the opening few laps. I managed to ride around my problems and put together a decent pace but as soon as I pushed a tiny bit harder under braking I hit a bump and the front folded.
"Now we have to wait and see if we can make up for it at Brno."
Simoncelli had been just behind San Carlo Honda Gresini team-mate Marco Melandri at the time of his fall. The injured Melandri kept eighth to the flag and will be looking to dial-in the latest electronics package as soon as possible.
"That was a really tough race for me. We thought we had found something good in the warm-up this morning but we made a couple more changes for the race and they didn't have the effect we'd hoped," said Melandri, who is still recovering from injuries sustained at Assen.
"We also have a lot to learn about the new electronics package. The bike changed a lot as the race progressed and it was difficult for me to manage. After fifteen laps I was really struggling under braking, especially into the left-handers because I didn't have any strength. It was important for me to get to the finish and gather as much data as possible."
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