MotoGP News
Date: 23/October/2011
The MotoGP World Championship was in a state of mourning on Sunday evening following the tragic loss of one of its brightest and most exciting stars, Marco Simoncelli.
The flamboyant 24-year-old Italian lost his life when he slid from his Gresini Honda whilst holding fourth place on the second lap of the race, held at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia.
What would normally have been a relatively harmless fall turned deadly when Simoncelli's bike regained traction after he fell and then swerved across the racetrack, pulling the former 250cc world champion with it.
Simoncelli slid straight into the path of Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi, who had no time to avoid the fallen rider. The massive impact tore off Simoncelli's helmet and left him lying unconscious in the middle of the track, while a tumbling Edwards dislocated his shoulder.
Nine time world champion Rossi, a good friend of Simoncelli, was sent spearing off track but was able to keep control of his Ducati.
Championship organisers faced stiff criticism after the last two fatalities - Daijiro Kato (MotoGP) in 2003 and Shoya Tomizawa (Moto2) in 2010 - for not stopping the race.
There could be no criticism of the reaction on Sunday, with red flags immediately raised and Simoncelli taken by ambulance to the medical centre. Sadly, nothing could be done to save the popular young rider, instantly recognisable due to his Jimi Hendrix style hair.
An emotional Doctor Michele Macchiagodena, Medical Director for MotoGP, later explained: “I’m very sad to be here to report about the death of Marco Simoncelli, a friend. Because of the crash he had during the race, in which he was hit by other riders, he suffered a very serious trauma to the head, to the neck and the chest.
"When our medical staff got to him he was unconscious. In the ambulance because there was a cardiac arrest they started CPR. Immediately in the Medical Centre, with the help also of the Doctor of our staff at the Clinica Mobile and local Doctors, he was intubated and it was possible to take off some blood from the thorax.
"The CPR was continued for 45 minutes because we tried to help him for as long as we thought it was possible. Unfortunately it was not possible to help him and at 16:56 (local time) we had to declare he was dead.”
Simoncelli, penalised earlier in the season for the hard-riding style that made him so popular with fans, had taken his best MotoGP finish of second place the previous Sunday in Australia.
Nicknamed 'Super Sic', SIC being the abbreviation of his name on the timing screens, Simoncelli had recently signed a new factory Honda contract to remain at Team Gresini in 2012.
Kato, the last premier-class rider to be killed, had also ridden for the Italian-based squad, run by former racer Fausto Gresini.
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