Marco Simoncelli Remembered

When I woke up on Sunday morning I was excited by the prospect of a day full of sport; the Rugby World Cup Final, The Malaysian MotoGP and the Premier League matches. Unfortunately my day is ending on a very sad note.

Just before New Zealand won the World Cup, the world of motorsport lost a beloved son. On the second lap of the MotoGP race, Marco Simoncelli lost control of his Honda motorbike while on turn 11. Usually the bike should slip away sideways and land in a gravel trap placed outside the track for this purpose, but instead the wheels continued to grip and turned Marco into the path of riders Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi. Both riders hit Marco at considerable speed, ripping the helmet off his head. Edwards then landed hard on the track and suffered a dislocated shoulder; Rossi was able to make it back to the pit area. Marco was motionless on the track.

Immediately after the crash, the red flag was brought out. This postpones the race and instructs all riders to return to the pits. Simoncelli was rushed to the medical facilities of the circuit where for nearly an hour they tried to save his life. During this time is the anxious wait for news, although a very competitive sport, the worry for Marco was written on every face from every team in that pit lane. Some riders even refused to watch the footage of the crash, in order to keep focused.

The race officials first gave a new race start time of 4:30pm local time, but that came and went with no sign of bikes or riders getting ready to race again. Then came the decision that the race had been cancelled due to the critical nature of Marcos injuries. By this time the BBCs time slot was over and they had to end their broadcast.

The medical staff tried for almost an hour to save Marco, but his injuries were too severe . At 4:56pm local time he passed away.

Marco Simoncelli was 24. He had won the 250cc World Championship twice and was expected to be a MotoGP champion in the coming years. He had two podium finishes this year and had just signed a new contract with Honda for next season where he hoped to challenge for the title.

The real tragedy is that this young man was one of the most flamboyant and determined riders to enter the sport in a long time, he was nowhere near his peak. His edgy and gutsy riding style sometimes left him crashing out and losing points but when it all worked together he could leave the much more experienced riders in his wake.

This race was broadcast live on television and so was the crash. Therefore this incident is available to watch on video sites like youtube. However please be aware that I watched this happen live and it still haunts me. The news channels have also deemed the crash to graphic and are not broadcasting it.

So although no official rating will be given, please consider it of a mature nature and please respect the memory of this great man.

MARCO SIMONCELLI 1987 -2011