Simone Corsi (born 24 April 1987) is an Italian former
Grand Prix motorcycle racer. Born in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, Corsi has been racing in motorcycle world championships for nearly 20 years, amassing over 300 races,
4th all-time, behind only
Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi (; ; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed ''The Doctor'', he is widely considered to be one of the greatest motorcyc ...
,
Andrea Dovizioso
Andrea Dovizioso (born 23 March 1986) is an Italian former professional motorcycle racer. He raced with WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team for the 2022 season but announced his intended-retirement after the Misano round in September.
Dovizioso was t ...
and
Loris Capirossi
Loris Capirossi (born 4 April 1973) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, currently serving as Safety Advisor to Dorna Sports, the commercial rights holder of Grand Prix motorcycle racing.
He is a 9-time Premier Class race wi ...
.
Career
125cc World Championship
Corsi's first
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
race was in the 125cc category, in
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
at
Mugello
The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Flo ...
, and riding a
Honda RS125R
The Honda RS125R was a 125 Cubic centimetre, cc Two-stroke engine, two-stroke Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix racing motorcycle manufactured by Honda Racing Corporation for Motorcycle racing, racing purposes only.
It debuted in 1980, r ...
he finished the race in 22nd. From the following year on, he would compete regularly in the world championship's levels.
Kopron Team Scot (2003–2004)
In
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
, Corsi rode a Honda for
Scot Racing Team, along with teammate
Andrea Dovizioso
Andrea Dovizioso (born 23 March 1986) is an Italian former professional motorcycle racer. He raced with WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team for the 2022 season but announced his intended-retirement after the Misano round in September.
Dovizioso was t ...
. He achieved nine point scoring finishes, a season's best result of 9th in two races, and finished 19th in the final standings with 32 points.
In the
following year he improved, finishing in the points ten times, finishing in the top-10 four times, and scoring his first podium with a 3rd place in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, with Dovizioso winning the race. Corsi ended the season 13th in the final standings with 61 points, while his teammate Dovizioso won the World Championship title with 293 points.
250cc World Championship
For
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
both Corsi and Dovizioso moved up to 250cc, but were now riding different bikes. Corsi had a good first half of the year, as he finished in the points in seven of the eight races. However, in the second half's eight races he finished in the points only once, ending the season 14th in the standings, with 59 points.
Return to 125cc
Squadra Corse Metis Gilera (2006)
Corsi returned to the 125cc class for
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
with
Gilera
Gilera is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded in Arcore in 1909 by Giuseppe Gilera (1887–1971). In 1969, the company was purchased by Piaggio.
History
In 1935, Gilera acquired rights to the Rondine four-cylinder engine. It was, at ...
, but he fell short of an impressive season, two fourth places were the best results of his year, and he finished 12th in the championship, with 79 points.
Skilled Racing Team (2007)
In
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
, he won his first
Grand Prix race at the
Turkish Grand Prix
The Turkish Grand Prix ( tr, ) is a Formula One auto racing, motor race held at the Istanbul Park Circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke. The race was part of the Formula One World Championship between and , and to , the latter two being due to ...
in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, and finished 3rd in Mugello. Corsi ended the season 6th in the standings, with 168 points, both being career high totals so far.
Jack & Jones WRB (2008)
For
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, Corsi received a factory spec
Aprilia RSA 125
The Aprilia RS 125 is a race motorcycle manufactured by Aprilia to race in the Grand Prix motorcycle World Championship, built to replace the old Aprilia AF1. It was debuted in , and it had many upgrades since. The bike won ten World Championsh ...
and he was seen as a title favourite for the year. Corsi won races in Jerez, Estoril, Mugello, and the season closer in Valencia, and also finished 3rd in Assen, Rimini, and Sepang, but ultimately finished 2nd in the championship with 225 points, 39 points behind the
Derbi
Derbi is a manufacturer of motorcycles, scooters, mopeds and recreational all-terrain vehicles produced by Nacional Motor S.A.U., a Spanish subsidiary of Piaggio & Co. SpA.
History
Derbi's origins began with a little bicycle workshop in the vi ...
of
Mike Di Meglio
Mike Di Meglio (born 17 January 1988) is a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and three-time world champion claiming the 2008 125cc title, , who also won four races himself, winning the title.
Fontana Racing (2009)
For
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, it had been speculated that Corsi would ride for the Scot Honda team in 250cc's, but he continued in 125cc with Aprilia, in one last hope of winning the World Championship. It was a down year for him, finishing on the podium only twice (a 2nd place in Donnington, and a 3rd place in Indianapolis), and concluded his career's final year of the 125cc category with only 81 points, good for 11th in the rider's standings.
Moto2 World Championship
Team JiR (2010)
In
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, Corsi stepped up to the new intermediate class, Moto2, for
Team JiR. He scored his first podium, and his team's first podium in the intermediate class, with a 3rd place at
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
, moving into third place in the championship standings temporarily. He added another 3rd placed podium at Mugello, but a crash at both Silverstone and the Sachsenring put a dent his championship hopes. He finished the season well, with regular top-10 finishes, ending his second season in the intermediate class (following the debut 2005 season) 5th in the rider's championship, with 138 points.
IodaRacing Project (2011–2012)
In
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, Corsi now riding for
IodaRacing Project
IodaRacing Project is an Italian motorcycle constructor and racing team based in Terni, Italy. The team currently fields Aprilia motorcycles in the Superbike World Championship with Leandro Mercado and with Yamaha motorcycles in the Supersport ...
, he basically replicated his 2010 season, scoring two 3rd place finishes (this time in Jerez, and Aragón), and finishing 6th in the final standings, with 127 points.
For the
2012 season Corsi stayed with the IodaRacing Project team, and regressed, not scoring any podiums during the year, his highest finish being three 5th places in Barcelona, Silverstone and Brno, ending the year a disappointing 11th in the standings, with 88 points.
Forward Racing (2013–2015)
Switching teams again, Corsi would ride for
Forward Racing
Forward Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the Moto2 World Championship.
History
The team started competing in the MotoGP class as the Hayate Racing Team, a scaled down version of the Kawasaki factory team that withdrew from MotoGP ...
in the
2013 Moto2 World Championship
The 2013 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 65th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Marc Márquez was the reigning champion, but did not contest in season as he joined the MotoGP with Repsol Honda.
Season summary
Pol Esp ...
, and have his usual season, riding mostly in the middle of the pack, a regular points finisher, occasional top-10 finishes, and one podium, this time coming as a 2nd place in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. He finished the year 11th in the rider's championship, with 108 points.
Staying with Forward Racing, Corsi was partnered by
Mattia Pasini
Mattia Pasini (born 13 August 1985) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.
Career
Early career
Born in Rimini, Pasini participated in his first race at the age of 9.
125cc World Championship
After several successful years in the Ita ...
for the
2014 season, and had a very half and half year. He started the season off well, with three straight 5th place finishes in Qatar, Texas, and Argentina, before a retirement in Jerez. This was followed by a 2nd place in Le Mans, a 4th place in Mugello, and another retirement in Barcelona. A 3rd place in Germany was followed up by a 5th place in Indianapolis, a 12th place in Brno, and a retirement in Silverstone, where he broke his left arm. Corsi underwent a four hour operation at the John Radcliffe Hospital in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
to fix the open and displaced fracture of the ulna of his left arm, reducing and fixing the fracture with a plaque and screws. During the surgery, the doctors discovered injuries to the extensor tendons of the wrist, that were also repaired. These severe injuries saw Corsi miss the remaining six races of the season rehabbing, prematurely ending his 2014 season. He still managed to finish the year 7th in the standings, with 100 points.
![Simone Corsi Moto-2-2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Simone_Corsi_Moto-2-2015.JPG)
For the
2015 Moto2 World Championship
The 2015 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 67th Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, F.I.M. Road racing, Road Racing World Championship season. Marc VDS Racing Team rider Esteve Rabat started the season as the defending rider ...
, Corsi's teammate at
Forward Racing
Forward Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the Moto2 World Championship.
History
The team started competing in the MotoGP class as the Hayate Racing Team, a scaled down version of the Kawasaki factory team that withdrew from MotoGP ...
was
Lorenzo Baldassarri
Lorenzo Baldassarri (born 6 November 1996) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer, currently competing for GMT94 Yamaha in the 2023 Superbike World Championship. Baldassarri recently raced in the Supersport World Championship, finishing run ...
. He started the season off poorly, being involved in a crash with
Esteve Rabat
Esteve "Tito" Rabat Bergada (born 25 May 1989) is a Spanish motorcycle racer. He is best known for winning the 2014 Moto2 World Championship.
Rabat then made the move to MotoGP in 2016 and spent five full-time seasons there, before moving to th ...
in the season opener in
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
, causing both riders to retire from the race. In
Mugello
The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Flo ...
, he was involved in a collision with
Sam Lowes
Samuel Deane Lowes (born 14 September 1990) is a British motorcycle racer competing in the Moto2 World Championship aboard a Kalex since 2019, and is part of the ELF Marc VDS Racing Team.
Lowes' 2022 season ended early, being unable to race i ...
, in which Corsi turned in on Lowes, causing himself to crash, Lowes managing to go on, eventually finishing 4th. Altogether, Corsi had an average year, scoring no podiums, his season's best results were two 4th places in Germany and San Marino, and finished 12th overall in the rider's championship, with 86 points.
Speed Up Racing (2016–2017)
In
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
, Corsi joined
Speed Up
Speed Up is an Italian motorcycle racing team and constructor founded in 2010 and based in Vicenza, Italy. In 2012 the company started building its own branded chassis under the Speed Up Factory name. Beginning with the 2021 season, the company ...
to replace
Sam Lowes
Samuel Deane Lowes (born 14 September 1990) is a British motorcycle racer competing in the Moto2 World Championship aboard a Kalex since 2019, and is part of the ELF Marc VDS Racing Team.
Lowes' 2022 season ended early, being unable to race i ...
, who left to
Gresini Racing
Gresini Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP World Championship under the name Gresini Racing MotoGP as a Ducati satellite team, in the Moto2 World Championship as Team Gresini Moto2, and the MotoE World Cup as Felo Gresin ...
. Corsi had his usual year, starting the season off really well, scoring a 3rd place in the season opener at
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
, and a 2nd place in
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
, the fifth race of the season. In
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, with 5 laps remaining, he tried overtaking
Takaaki Nakagami
is a Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle racer, competing for LCR Honda Idemitsu in MotoGP. He won the Japanese Road Race Championship 125cc class in 2006 and J-GP2 class in 2011.
Career Early career
Born in Chiba, Nakagami joined the Japanese Ro ...
in the first corner, going up the inside of the Japanese rider when there was no room, causing Nakagami to crash. He was placed under investigation by race direction, but it was subsequently deemed a racing incident. In
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, he was investigated after making contact with Lorenzo Baldassari in a chicane, but it too was deemed a racing incident. He had a similar incident with Nakagami in
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
that year as in Austin, but this time Corsi receiving a ride-through penalty for dangerous riding. He would score points regularly during the rest of the year, but had no further podiums, finishing 10th in the standings, with 103 points.
Staying with Speed Up for the
2017 season, Corsi would continue his bad habit of being involved in crashes, this time in
Jerez
Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...
, where he was involved in his third collision with Nakagami and his first with
Xavi Vierge
Xavier Vierge Zafra (born 30 April 1997) is a Spanish motorcycle racer, contracted to race for Honda Racing Corporation in the 2022 Superbike World Championship.
Career Early career
Born in Barcelona, Vierge was the 2015 FIM CEV Moto2 Europea ...
. Corsi tried to overtake too many riders into turn one, lost the front, and took out all three of them from the race. Overall he had another average year, finishing with no podiums, a season's best of 4th in Germany, 117 points, and 9th in the championship.
Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 (2018–2019)
Corsi switched to team Tasca Racing for the
2018 season, partnering
Federico Fuligni. Corsi had a weaker year, seeing the checkered flag in the top-10 only four times, and finished 14th in the rider's championship with 53 points.
In
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, Corsi had his Grand Prix career's worst year, finishing in the points only twice in the first 9 races of the season, an 8th place in Austin and a 14th place in Barcelona. His poor performances led to Tasca Racing replacing him with ex-teammate
Mattia Pasini
Mattia Pasini (born 13 August 1985) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.
Career
Early career
Born in Rimini, Pasini participated in his first race at the age of 9.
125cc World Championship
After several successful years in the Ita ...
from the Brno round onwards, after the summer break. Corsi thus finished with only 10 points, 24th in the rider's championship.
MV Agusta Forward Racing (2020–2022)
Corsi made his return to
MV Agusta
MV Agusta (, full name: MV AGUSTA Motor S.p.A., original name: Meccanica Verghera Agusta or MV) is a motorcycle manufacturer founded by Count Domenico Agusta on 19 January 1945 as one of the branches of the Agusta aircraft company near Milan in ...
Forward Racing
Forward Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the Moto2 World Championship.
History
The team started competing in the MotoGP class as the Hayate Racing Team, a scaled down version of the Kawasaki factory team that withdrew from MotoGP ...
for the
2020 season, partnering
Stefano Manzi, and continued declining in his performances. He finished in the points only six times, and only finished in the top-10 once, a 10th place finish in Aragon. He ended the year 24th in the championship again, this time with 15 points.
Partnered by
Lorenzo Baldassarri
Lorenzo Baldassarri (born 6 November 1996) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer, currently competing for GMT94 Yamaha in the 2023 Superbike World Championship. Baldassarri recently raced in the Supersport World Championship, finishing run ...
at Forward for the
2021 Moto2 World Championship
The 2021 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 73rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Remy Gardner won the world championship in the final race at Valencia. This season also saw the retirement of the intermediate class vete ...
, Corsi started the year off in the worst way possible, a high-side in the opening round of Qatar, resulting in a compound fracture in his left wrist. He was replaced for the second round by Tomasso Marcon, and for the third by
Miquel Pons
Miquel Pons Payeras (born 1 August 1997) is a Spanish motorcycle racer. He currently competes in the MotoE World Cup.
Career statistics Supersport World Championship Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' ...
, with rumours starting to circle whether or not it was going to be his last year. He finished 9th in Le Mans, 10th in Aragon, and 13th in Austin, and the following weekend
in Misano saw Corsi start his 300th career race, becoming only the 5th rider after
Loris Capirossi
Loris Capirossi (born 4 April 1973) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, currently serving as Safety Advisor to Dorna Sports, the commercial rights holder of Grand Prix motorcycle racing.
He is a 9-time Premier Class race wi ...
,
Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi (; ; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed ''The Doctor'', he is widely considered to be one of the greatest motorcyc ...
,
Andrea Dovizioso
Andrea Dovizioso (born 23 March 1986) is an Italian former professional motorcycle racer. He raced with WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team for the 2022 season but announced his intended-retirement after the Misano round in September.
Dovizioso was t ...
, and
Thomas Lüthi
Thomas Lüthi (born 6 September 1986) is a Swiss sporting director at Prüstel GP, and former Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He spent 19 years in Grand Prix world championships, becoming one of only six riders to reach 300 race starts, spending m ...
to achieve this feat.
The final round in Valencia saw him take an unexpected pole position in qualifying, his first pole in nearly nine years, but on the warm-up lap Corsi's bike stalled, and he entered the pits in tears, unable to start the race from the front of the grid due to a technical issue. He ended the season 24th in the standings with 16 points, and was extended for another year by
Forward Racing
Forward Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the Moto2 World Championship.
History
The team started competing in the MotoGP class as the Hayate Racing Team, a scaled down version of the Kawasaki factory team that withdrew from MotoGP ...
for his brilliant pole position.
In what is due to be Corsi's 20th and final season in Grand Prix racing, he will be joined by teammate
Marcos Ramírez at
Forward Racing
Forward Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the Moto2 World Championship.
History
The team started competing in the MotoGP class as the Hayate Racing Team, a scaled down version of the Kawasaki factory team that withdrew from MotoGP ...
for the
2022 Moto2 season.
Career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
By season
By class
Races by year
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap of the race)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corsi, Simone
1987 births
Living people
Italian motorcycle racers
Sportspeople from Rome
125cc World Championship riders
250cc World Championship riders
Moto2 World Championship riders
Motorcycle racers of Fiamme Oro