[kropotkin thinks...] - Simoncelli's Factory Status At Gresini Extended Through 2012

[Ninjette Newsbot]

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Marco Simoncelli has won the unofficial Battle of the HRC Italians. Today, the San Carlo Gresini team announced that Simoncelli would be staying with the squad for 2012, and would be doing so with a HRC contract and a factory-spec Honda RC213V.

With Honda scaling back the number of factory-supported riders in MotoGP for 2012, the question on everybody's lips had been who of the two current Italian riders HRC would choose to support next year, Andrea Dovizioso or Marco Simoncelli. Dovizioso has comprehensively beaten Simoncelli so far this year, finishing ahead of Simoncelli in 12 of this year's 14 races, and sitting a massive 79 points ahead of Simoncelli in the championship, and was pushing for another extension to his factory contract with Honda. But while Dovizioso has been quietly getting results, Simoncelli has been making headlines, and has gathered a massive fan base in the two years he has been in MotoGP. Simoncelli's popularity - especially in Italy, his home country - has helped Italian snack maker San Carlo raise their profile in their key market, and helped persuade them to stay on as sponsor with the Gresini Honda squad.

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