MotoGP MotoGP Tragedy - R.I.P. Marco Simoncelli
- Thread starter Fenderman
- Start date
rufus_mcdufus
Champion Elect
Me too. A great character. I really enjoyed his interviews and his racing made for a great show. Goddam it.
Reminds you just how brave these guys are. Risking everything for glory. Is it worth it?. Their friends and family might say no, but they wouldn't be doing it if they didn't think so themselves. My sadness is that he didn't get to achieve everything that he could have. There was a lot more from him but this is life and death and if you walk the fine line it can go either way. Wheelies in the sky, Simo. 
racecub
Champion Elect
Reminds you just how brave these guys are. Risking everything for glory. Is it worth it?. Their friends and family might say no, but they wouldn't be doing it if they didn't think so themselves. My sadness is that he didn't get to achieve everything that he could have. There was a lot more from him but this is life and death and if you walk the fine line it can go either way. Wheelies in the sky, Simo.
Well said. I've a lump in my throat that wont go away.
racecub
Champion Elect
Matt Roberts was on the radio saying it looks like it was Valentino that knocked Marco's helmet off
How can that be? Rossi was on the other side. Marco went into the front of Edwards. I wonder how Rossi and Edwards will feel about continuing? It must make them re-evaluate the desire to stay racing. Both are getting on in terms of racing age.
.
Dizzi
Podium Finisher
I'm numb with shock.
Saw the accident live & the last thing I heard before going out was a team member saying he was conscious. Got back to find he'd died.
An exciting rider who gave us fans many hours of breath holding moments, I'm sure he would've made the top step of the podium next year.
RIP sideshow Bob, thanks for the good times.
My thoughts go out to his family & friends, especially Valentino & Colin who must feel terrible.
Saw the accident live & the last thing I heard before going out was a team member saying he was conscious. Got back to find he'd died.
An exciting rider who gave us fans many hours of breath holding moments, I'm sure he would've made the top step of the podium next year.
RIP sideshow Bob, thanks for the good times.
My thoughts go out to his family & friends, especially Valentino & Colin who must feel terrible.
Matt Roberts was on the radio saying it looks like it was Valentino that knocked Marco's helmet off
It doesn't matter. It was just an unfortunate accident.
As was Tomizawa's death last year, no blame to other riders, a sad consequence of the risks in the sports we, and they, love.
Fenderman
Rooters Reporter
Marco Simoncelli – 1987- 2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Simoncelli
23rd October 2011
Marco Simoncelli was born on January 20th 1987, in Cattolica, Italy. He began his motorcycle racing career on mini-motos, bike racing's equivalent to karting. In 1996, at just 11 years of age, he came second in the Italian Mini-Moto championships. He went on to win the title in 1999 and again in 2000, when he also competed in the European Minimoto series, finishing second in that championship..
In 2001, Marco won the Italian 125cc Championship in his first season and followed that feat in 2002 by winning the European 125cc Championship.
Having caught the attention of Massimo Matteoni's team, Marco campaigned his first full season in the 2003 FIM 125cc World Championship, alongside Mirko Giansanti on the Matteoni Team's Aprillia 125. Over the years Matteoni Racing has accelerated the careers of many well known riders on the 125 and 250cc Grand Prix circuit, including Emilio Alzamora, Marco Melandri, Alex de Angelis, Jaroslav Hules, Chaz Davies, Alex Baldolini, and Raffaele de Rosa.
In 2004, Marco raced alonside Steve Jenkner for Rauch Bravo. Round two of the 125cc championship that year was an exceptionally wet race at Jerez. In a sign of things to come, this was the scene of Marco's debut win in the class. With two pole positions and 79 world championship points, he finished the season in eleventh place out of thirty three in the championship. For 2005, Marco again moved teams, to join Nocable.it Race team. With a back to back win at Jerez (round 15) and 177 points he finished up fifth in the championship.
Already outgrowing the 125cc Aprilia's, quite literally, for 2006, Marco progressed to the 250cc class with Gilera. His highest place finish that season was a sixth at the Chinese Grand Prix but he secured 10th place in the championship with 92 points. He was up against a veritable list of motorcycle racing's 250cc Grands Prix 'Who's Who' including, among others.: Alvaro Bautista, Thomas Luthi, Joan Olive, Gabor Talmacsi, Pablo Nieto, Sergio Gadea, Raffaele de Rosa, Mika Kallio, Imre Toth, Angel Rodriguez, Hector Faubel, Julian Simon, Lukas Pesek, Manuel Poggiali, Mike Di Meglio and Tomoyoshi Koyama.
The two-fifty class has always been the hotbed of motorcycle racing talent and whilst many may think that coming tenth in that season would not be much of an achievement it should be remembered that in 2007 he was again competing against some of the very best seasoned campaigners. Jorge Lorenzo took the title that year and we all know how good he is. The season was littered with DNF's and, controversially, Marco was at the centre of some of the incidents. Nevertheless, his talent was being honed into that of fearless and fearsome opponent.
Still with Gilera for 2008, after starting the season with another two DNF's, he broke his duck and won his first 250cc race at round six at Mugello – somewhat controversially again after a clash with Hector Barbera. He went on to wrap up the title with a further five wins (at Catalunya, Sachsenring, Motegi, Phillip Island and Valencia), six podium places and 281 world championship points.
2009 was a real hit and miss year for Marco. Hiroshi Aoyama won the 250cc title with four victories and only two podiums but he had more higher points finishes. Hector Barbera, the runner up, with three victories and five podiums, also scored higher than Marco. With six victories and four podiums his season was again marred by controversy, low points finishes and several retirements. To cap a somewhat unusual season, as a one-off, Marco competed in the Imola round of the WSB. Riding for Aprilia he crashed out of fifth place in race one, but gobsmacked the WSB by taking the third step of the podium in race two.
In 2010 Marco was elevated to MotoGP with the Gressini Honda team. He secured eighth place in the championship with only two non-finishes in the season. Round 17 at Estoril saw his best finish that year, a hard fought and creditable fourth place. Marco was riding the socks off of the satellite team's Honda and taking it to places it had rarely seen.
This year, 2011, again he was “out-riding” the bike, courting controversy along the way, having collided with Dani Pedrosa in the French GP, he was nevertheless getting it to the podium. This weekend promised so much as did Marco's talent, courage and audacious style.
The motorcycle racing fraternity is in a state of shock as are the fans of the sport. We have had a number of tragedies this year across the various disciplines but somehow this one has cut deeply into the flesh of motorcycle sport. Not since Daijiro Kato at Suzuka 2003 has the senior class of Grand Prix bike racing lost a rider in a race. Maybe that is a consequence of MotoGP's status as the premier class. Whatever, it has been a very sad year for motorcycle sport, and motorsport come to that. Whilst we extend our thoughts and feelings to Marco's family and friends may they also extend to those of the other racers whom we have lost this year. May they all rest in peace.
R.I.P Marco Simoncelli
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Simoncelli
23rd October 2011
Marco Simoncelli was born on January 20th 1987, in Cattolica, Italy. He began his motorcycle racing career on mini-motos, bike racing's equivalent to karting. In 1996, at just 11 years of age, he came second in the Italian Mini-Moto championships. He went on to win the title in 1999 and again in 2000, when he also competed in the European Minimoto series, finishing second in that championship..
In 2001, Marco won the Italian 125cc Championship in his first season and followed that feat in 2002 by winning the European 125cc Championship.
Having caught the attention of Massimo Matteoni's team, Marco campaigned his first full season in the 2003 FIM 125cc World Championship, alongside Mirko Giansanti on the Matteoni Team's Aprillia 125. Over the years Matteoni Racing has accelerated the careers of many well known riders on the 125 and 250cc Grand Prix circuit, including Emilio Alzamora, Marco Melandri, Alex de Angelis, Jaroslav Hules, Chaz Davies, Alex Baldolini, and Raffaele de Rosa.
In 2004, Marco raced alonside Steve Jenkner for Rauch Bravo. Round two of the 125cc championship that year was an exceptionally wet race at Jerez. In a sign of things to come, this was the scene of Marco's debut win in the class. With two pole positions and 79 world championship points, he finished the season in eleventh place out of thirty three in the championship. For 2005, Marco again moved teams, to join Nocable.it Race team. With a back to back win at Jerez (round 15) and 177 points he finished up fifth in the championship.
Already outgrowing the 125cc Aprilia's, quite literally, for 2006, Marco progressed to the 250cc class with Gilera. His highest place finish that season was a sixth at the Chinese Grand Prix but he secured 10th place in the championship with 92 points. He was up against a veritable list of motorcycle racing's 250cc Grands Prix 'Who's Who' including, among others.: Alvaro Bautista, Thomas Luthi, Joan Olive, Gabor Talmacsi, Pablo Nieto, Sergio Gadea, Raffaele de Rosa, Mika Kallio, Imre Toth, Angel Rodriguez, Hector Faubel, Julian Simon, Lukas Pesek, Manuel Poggiali, Mike Di Meglio and Tomoyoshi Koyama.
The two-fifty class has always been the hotbed of motorcycle racing talent and whilst many may think that coming tenth in that season would not be much of an achievement it should be remembered that in 2007 he was again competing against some of the very best seasoned campaigners. Jorge Lorenzo took the title that year and we all know how good he is. The season was littered with DNF's and, controversially, Marco was at the centre of some of the incidents. Nevertheless, his talent was being honed into that of fearless and fearsome opponent.
Still with Gilera for 2008, after starting the season with another two DNF's, he broke his duck and won his first 250cc race at round six at Mugello – somewhat controversially again after a clash with Hector Barbera. He went on to wrap up the title with a further five wins (at Catalunya, Sachsenring, Motegi, Phillip Island and Valencia), six podium places and 281 world championship points.
2009 was a real hit and miss year for Marco. Hiroshi Aoyama won the 250cc title with four victories and only two podiums but he had more higher points finishes. Hector Barbera, the runner up, with three victories and five podiums, also scored higher than Marco. With six victories and four podiums his season was again marred by controversy, low points finishes and several retirements. To cap a somewhat unusual season, as a one-off, Marco competed in the Imola round of the WSB. Riding for Aprilia he crashed out of fifth place in race one, but gobsmacked the WSB by taking the third step of the podium in race two.
In 2010 Marco was elevated to MotoGP with the Gressini Honda team. He secured eighth place in the championship with only two non-finishes in the season. Round 17 at Estoril saw his best finish that year, a hard fought and creditable fourth place. Marco was riding the socks off of the satellite team's Honda and taking it to places it had rarely seen.
This year, 2011, again he was “out-riding” the bike, courting controversy along the way, having collided with Dani Pedrosa in the French GP, he was nevertheless getting it to the podium. This weekend promised so much as did Marco's talent, courage and audacious style.
The motorcycle racing fraternity is in a state of shock as are the fans of the sport. We have had a number of tragedies this year across the various disciplines but somehow this one has cut deeply into the flesh of motorcycle sport. Not since Daijiro Kato at Suzuka 2003 has the senior class of Grand Prix bike racing lost a rider in a race. Maybe that is a consequence of MotoGP's status as the premier class. Whatever, it has been a very sad year for motorcycle sport, and motorsport come to that. Whilst we extend our thoughts and feelings to Marco's family and friends may they also extend to those of the other racers whom we have lost this year. May they all rest in peace.
R.I.P Marco Simoncelli
R.I.P
It's a shame really, it was the first thing that I read when I woke up...I haven't seen it but it sounds horrific frown.gif poor guy was always victimised in his time at moto gp. I liked him aswell, it's just sinking in now that he's no longer here as I type this....
I watch moto gp occasionally, this seasons been boring he brought in most of the excitement.
He was only 24 and a promising talent...
EDIT: I have seen the incident now, and it's just horrific, seeing him lying there lifeless, I sympathise for those who watched it live, as that was just horrible to see. And one must ask the question, how did his helmet come off? From what I have read, his helmet was off before Colin Edwards collided with him.
It's a shame really, it was the first thing that I read when I woke up...I haven't seen it but it sounds horrific frown.gif poor guy was always victimised in his time at moto gp. I liked him aswell, it's just sinking in now that he's no longer here as I type this....
I watch moto gp occasionally, this seasons been boring he brought in most of the excitement.
He was only 24 and a promising talent...
EDIT: I have seen the incident now, and it's just horrific, seeing him lying there lifeless, I sympathise for those who watched it live, as that was just horrible to see. And one must ask the question, how did his helmet come off? From what I have read, his helmet was off before Colin Edwards collided with him.
Kamui-FastestChefInTheWorld
Points Scorer
R.I.P Marco 
As I saw in another forum, everything happens in pairs:
Ratzenberger + Senna at Imola 1994
Henry Surtees + (almost) Felipe Massa at same weekend in 2009
Dan Wheldon + Marco Simoncelli.
My condolences to all his family and friends...
As I saw in another forum, everything happens in pairs:
Ratzenberger + Senna at Imola 1994
Henry Surtees + (almost) Felipe Massa at same weekend in 2009
Dan Wheldon + Marco Simoncelli.
My condolences to all his family and friends...
Jos the Boss
Champion Elect
I was in a car nd heard Cox describe this. RIP marco
It was horrible, as soon as I saw that his helmet was off, and he was lying on the track - I'm suire everyone would have feared the worst. You could tell that the commentators (particularly Cox) were extremely distressed.
But it should be noted that there was nothing wrong with the circuit, or anyone's riding, it was just a tragic, tragic accident.
RIP
sobriety
Race Winner
I've watched one replay (and I'm not watching another), but it looked to me as if his head was hit by Rossi's front wheel, removing his helmet. Although I think the outcome would've been the same whatever happened, any impact large enough to snap the chinstrap (which I what I've read happened) is almost certain to be fatal.
RickD
Pole Sitter
RIP Sideshow Bob.
I saw a replay (one was enough) and Edwards ran into him at the sam time as Rossi. Feel for those guys and Marcos family, just a tragic accident.
The only question is what happened just before as it was a weird place to be hanging off the bike in that way, it almost seemed like his foot was trapped or something?!?
Again, a tragic accident once again remiding people (if any remider was required after last week), that motorsport is dangerous..
I saw a replay (one was enough) and Edwards ran into him at the sam time as Rossi. Feel for those guys and Marcos family, just a tragic accident.
The only question is what happened just before as it was a weird place to be hanging off the bike in that way, it almost seemed like his foot was trapped or something?!?
Again, a tragic accident once again remiding people (if any remider was required after last week), that motorsport is dangerous..
My mate text me this morning to tell me Simoncelli had been killed. Really shocked. I have been wondering all day how exactly it happened, so decided to watch the accident on you tube. Now I really really wish I hadn't. I never want to see that again. Never seen somones helmet come off like that before. I feel sick to my stomache. If you haven't seen it I urge you not to watch.
Rest in peace Marco. Another good guy lost. I can't even begin to comprehend how Edwards and Rossi must be feeling.
Another sad day in motorsport. Stay safe.
Rest in peace Marco. Another good guy lost. I can't even begin to comprehend how Edwards and Rossi must be feeling.
Another sad day in motorsport. Stay safe.
