Simone Corsi

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 of Mike Di Meglio, who also won four races himself, winning the title.

Simone Corsi (born 24 April 1987) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle racer.

Born in Rome, Corsi has been racing in motorcycle world championships for nearly 20 years, amassing over 300 races, 4th all-time, behind only Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso and Loris Capirossi.

Corsi's first Grand Prix race was in the 125cc category, in 2002 at Mugello, and riding a Honda RS125R he finished the race in 22nd.

From the following year on, he would compete regularly in the world championship's levels.

In 2003, Corsi rode a Honda for Scot Racing Team, along with teammate Andrea Dovizioso.

For 2005 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.

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.

Corsi returned to the 125cc class for 2006 with Gilera, 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.

In 2007, he won his first Grand Prix race at the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul, and finished 3rd in Mugello.

For 2008, Corsi received a factory spec Aprilia RSA 125 and he was seen as a title favourite for the year.

For 2009, 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.

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, with Dovizioso winning the race.

In 2010, 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, 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 still managed to finish the year 7th in the standings, with 100 points.

In 2011, Corsi now riding for IodaRacing Project, 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.

He finished the year 11th in the rider's championship, with 108 points.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Corsi ended the season 13th in the final standings with 61 points, while his teammate Dovizioso won the World Championship title with 293 points.

Switching teams again, Corsi would ride for Forward Racing in the 2013 Moto2 World Championship, 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.

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.

Staying with Forward Racing, Corsi was partnered by Mattia Pasini 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.

These severe injuries saw Corsi miss the remaining six races of the season rehabbing, prematurely ending his 2014 season.

For the 2015 Moto2 World Championship, Corsi's teammate at Forward Racing was Lorenzo Baldassarri.

He started the season off poorly, being involved in a crash with Esteve Rabat in the season opener in Qatar, causing both riders to retire from the race.

In Mugello, he was involved in a collision with Sam Lowes, in which Corsi turned in on Lowes, causing himself to crash, Lowes managing to go on, eventually finishing 4th.

Corsi ended the season 6th in the standings, with 168 points, both being career high totals so far.

In 2016, Corsi joined Speed Up to replace Sam Lowes, who left to Gresini Racing.

Corsi had his usual year, starting the season off really well, scoring a 3rd place in the season opener at Qatar, and a 2nd place in Le Mans, the fifth race of the season.

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.