Simpson was rewarded with eighteen championship points for his efforts, which sees him slip back to seventh spot in the general standings after a tough start to his 2010 Grand Prix campaign.

Rain prior to the event meant that the usually hard pack fast circuit was some what softer than normal as Saturday's qualifying programme got underway. The twenty-two year old Scot found the conditions to his liking and posted the third fastest time in free practice. The track was beginning to dry nicely, before another downpour arrived just ahead of pre-qualifying.

Simpson played it safe on the increasingly slippery track to record fifth spot come the end of the pre-qualifying practice. This was good enough to give the young KTM teamster a solid gate pick for Saturday afternoon's qualifying race that would ultimately decide gate positions for Sunday's main two motos. With the circuit drying once again, Shaun got a a good start and instantly settled into his rythmn to secure a moral boosting third place come the end of the qualifying race.

More heavy rain over Saturday night altered conditions yet again, but thankfully the riders awoke to find blue skies and only slight cloud on Sunday morning, which signalled that a good day's racing was in store with the track getting better as the day wore on. The changing weather pattern did however leave the circuit with only one clear racing line in many places, which made overtaking difficult as the lap charts show.

Shaun gave himself a real chance of a podium place in the first moto as he got away with the leading trio of Musquin, Roczen and Herlings. Although Simpson never actually managed to seriously challenge these front runners, by matching their pace in the initial stages this allowed him to open up a comfortable advantage over eventual fifth placed rider Osborne. The young Scot rode a sensible race to cross the line in safe a fourth place.

The first two motos of MX2 and MX1 racing had left the circuit rough and rutted, with the faces of the jumps also showing the scars of the opening two races. Simpson got away well once again in the second moto and was holding a top five position on the first lap before he crashed heavily on one of the uphill jumps. The resulting crash saw Shaun land heavily as he went completely over the handlebars before hitting the deck hard.

Whilst no lasting damage had been done, Simpson was now dead last and had no real hope of making his way back into the points due to the one line nature of the track. Despite this Shaun battled hard to get back in the top twenty before another small crash demoted him once again to leave him in twenty-first spot as he crossed the line.

Shaun was quick to reflect on his day. "I have never managed to put two good results together at this track and today was pretty much the same story. In some ways the wet has suited me, but in other ways it has made the track tricky and very difficult to pass on. There was very little over taking all day, so it was all about making good starts."

"My first race was OK, I managed to get away with the leaders and this helped me gap Osborne so I could then ride my own race. That was also the plan for the second race, but it all went wrong on the opening lap. I used the same line and technique on the take off of the jump as in the first race, but with it being so much rougher it just caught me out. This has never been my favourite circuit and today has proved why. I could have easily injured myself, so I am just happy to be heading to Spain for next weekend's GP in good shape." Simpson ended.

Grand Prix of Portugal
MX2 Moto One: 1: Musquin 2: Roczen 3: Herlings 4: Simpson 5: Osborne
MX2 Moto Two: 1: Musquin 2: Herlings 3: Osborne 4: Van Horebeek 5: Frossard...21: Simpson
MX2 Overall: 1: Musquin 50 2: Herlings 42 3: Roczen 37 4: Osborne 36 5: Frossard 26...12:Simpson 18
MX2 Championship to date: 1: Musquin 179 2: Roczen 167 3: Herlings 164...7: Simpson 105