Marco Simoncelli insists he is unfazed by rivals' criticism

Although the Gresini Honda rider has made a major performance breakthrough this year and been a threat for victory at the majority of races, he has yet to take a podium finish having crashed at Jerez, Estoril and Silverstone, been penalised for a collision with Dani Pedrosa at Le Mans that left the Spaniard injured, and clashed with Jorge Lorenzo at Assen.

Lorenzo and Pedrosa in particular have been outspoken in their views about Simoncelli's riding style and aggressive racing, but the Italian said he was unruffled by his rivals' criticisms.

"When I crash in the race, everybody can say their opinion," said Simoncelli. "I say mine, and this is it. I try to keep concentrated on the race, on my bike and on my work, and try to do my best every time."

He admitted that the Dutch Grand Prix incident, in which he fell on the opening lap and collected Lorenzo, was a bad mistake.

"The weekend in Assen was perfect but in the race I did a very stupid mistake on the first lap, maybe the worst mistake of the year," Simoncelli said.

"I knew that the tyre was cold on the left side but I wanted to try to overtake Lorenzo anyway. I lost the rear and I crashed, and I hit him in my crash and I'm sorry for that."

Simoncelli also denied that the repeated frustration of being ultra-fast in practice and qualifying only to crash in the races was getting to him.

"I'm becoming more hungry for the opportunities I'm losing in the races," he conceded. "But there's no point looking at the past and crying.

"I need to stay concentrated on the present and this race, and try to do my best to get the best result possible."