Round 17 - Moto GP 2011, Sepang

[Hazza]

RIP Marco.

[Nicholosophy]

You see these sorts of lowsides every race and you expect nothing of it. This time a couple of bikes were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

When you think about it, a rider's helmet is only held on by a relatively thin strap. In cars they have the HANS device which helps in their particular cases. Perhaps it is time to see if there is something better that can be used in bike racing than what we have now.

May his death be not in vain.

[speedreader]

Originally Posted by NickoGP
When you think about it, a rider's helmet is only held on by a relatively thin strap. In cars they have the HANS device which helps in their particular cases. Perhaps it is time to see if there is something better that can be used in bike racing than what we have now.

May his death be not in vain.

Couldnt agree more re always striving to find better ideas to improve driver / rider safety but must admit it is frightening to think of the forces involved to break a chin strap, no matter how 'thin' it looks...

A shining star taken way too soon, RIP Marco. Condolences to family & friends.

[skells22]

at least these guys have one more race left which will now of course be on a sombe mood. any news about the moto2 rider that was injured on the same day

[chunder]

To be honest, how anything can think of or want to race anotehr race is beyond me.

I feel for Vale and Colin as they will gave feel awful about being involved.

And of course his family and Gresini, let's hope they find strength.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by chunder

I feel for Vale and Colin as they will gave feel awful about being involved.

And of course his family and Gresini, let's hope they find strength.

Agreed. Vale and Colin will feel awful. I got the impression from Colin and Vale's body language's that they knew straight away how serious it was, the way that Colin just sat on the grass, dispite his injury was chilling to be honest

Originally Posted by NickoGP

When you think about it, a rider's helmet is only held on by a relatively thin strap.

I fear that the force required to knock a helmet off is enough to kill the rider wether or not the strap is strong enough to keep that helmet on

[chunder]

Anyway regarding the racing.

Weird weekend with Marques aswell struggling, I dont actually mind as he probably wont win the title this year now.

As for 125, rather embarassing day for Terol, that bike is seriously wway quicker than every other bike out there and if you aint winning on it you really should retire mate! Awful racecraft and he looked so ashamed at the end!!

[skells22]

i better ask again, do anyone know about A. Pons injury news that also brought the Moto 2 race to a end early

[herowassenna]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Agreed. Vale and Colin will feel awful. I got the impression from Colin and Vale's body language's that they knew straight away how serious it was, the way that Colin just sat on the grass, dispite his injury was chilling to be honest

I can't begin to imagine what they are experiencing at the moment. Vale looked as though he was wiping tears as he looked behind him. After all Marco was like a "little brother" to him. Then him and Capirossi in the pits together, spoke a thousand words.
I would imagine the next few days will be very difficult coming to terms that, despite not being able to avoid the incident, they were culpable.
I have read on different sites that Vale and Colin may well retire after this, but I remember the fatal accident at Misano last year, and the other riders involved carried on. Berger, immediately after Senna's death questioned his own desire to compete.
I think they will carry on, because racers in themselves, accept that death can happen, but also in a way it would be in honour of his memory to continue in a sport they love. I wonder if Rossi will run a tribute to him in Valencia, maybe carry his race number, or style his helmet in honour.

I have affectionate memories of a charismatic man. Crazy afro hair, an indomitable spirit that I believe would have won championships, and attitude to back up his words against Lorenzo some months back.
He was exciting and shaping up to replace Rossi once he retired.
Sadly, that will never pass.
Marco, it's been a pleasure watching you, rooting for you and willing you on. That lap and a half against Bautista summed up everything great about your talent.
You will be sorely missed.
Addio Marco.

[bestfit]

Originally Posted by skells22

i better ask again, do anyone know about A. Pons injury news that also brought the Moto 2 race to a end early

Axel Pons is OK. He was taken to hospital for a CAT skan but is basically OK.

[gomick]

Happy with the results in the lower classes -
1. Hopefully (he should) Bradl seals the deal infront of the Spanish fans at Valencia...
2. Hopefully Terol chokes & crashes at Valencia & Zarco wins the race...

[Nicholosophy]

Originally Posted by gomick

Happy with the results in the lower classes -
1. Hopefully (he should) Bradl seals the deal infront of the Spanish fans at Valencia...
2. Hopefully Terol chokes & crashes at Valencia & Zarco wins the race...

I would personally not like to be wishing someone to crash. Especially at this moment.

[gomick]

True, dnf's then...

[EGG]

I was at the race yesterday (flew back last night), on the grandstand side facing the accident. I didn't see the initial crash, but it was about 150m away.

It didn't take the marshals long to red-flag the race, which suggested it wasn't good. The marshals picking him up actually dropped the stretcher just before it was put into the ambulance, I think they panicked and tried to run too fast.

The commentary went down just after the accident, so we spent about 40 minutes sitting around unsure if the race was going to restart. Some people started getting calls/sms's from Aus indicating the race was cancelled at this point, so most of the australians started leaving. There'd been no indication from race control if the race was still on, or the state of Marco's injuries so there wasn't any thought of staying for a 1 minute silence. Frankly we were unsure about Edwards as well, as he had been staggering just after the crash.

One person mentioned they'd seen Rossi crossing himself as he went down the back straight, but another mentioned he'd been making some kind of motion of relief that he'd kept it upright.

[cptkablamo]

Originally Posted by gomick

Happy with the results in the lower classes -
1. Hopefully (he should) Bradl seals the deal infront of the Spanish fans at Valencia...
2. Hopefully Terol chokes & crashes at Valencia & Zarco wins the race...

On the racing. The 125cc and Moto2 were great. Must say that despite the shortened race, I was thrilled to see Luthi get a win

Good to hear Pons is ok...

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by herowassenna

I can't begin to imagine what they are experiencing at the moment. Vale looked as though he was wiping tears as he looked behind him. After all Marco was like a "little brother" to him. Then him and Capirossi in the pits together, spoke a thousand words.
I would imagine the next few days will be very difficult coming to terms that, despite not being able to avoid the incident, they were culpable.

Iirc, Vale was one of the riders saying to Scott Redding last year that he couldn't blame himself for whatever part he played in the death of Tomizawa. He and Colin are now in that same position, they can't blame themselves, although that is easier said than done.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by chunder

As for 125, rather embarassing day for Terol, that bike is seriously wway quicker than every other bike out there and if you aint winning on it you really should retire mate! Awful racecraft and he looked so ashamed at the end!!

Dispite his 8 wins this season, i don't actually rate him that highly. If i had a team i'd want to employ Vinales and Zarco to ride my bikes before Terol.

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by chunder

Terol... Awful racecraft and he looked so ashamed at the end!!

Little bit harsh chunder, I thought he was suffering from heat stroke, that will seriously destroy anybody's concentration fast bike or not.

On a different note, is Carduz ok after that horrendous highside?

[Bob Pearson]

Originally Posted by herowassenna

I can't begin to imagine what they are experiencing at the moment. Vale looked as though he was wiping tears as he looked behind him. After all Marco was like a "little brother" to him. Then him and Capirossi in the pits together, spoke a thousand words.
I would imagine the next few days will be very difficult coming to terms that, despite not being able to avoid the incident, they were culpable.
I have read on different sites that Vale and Colin may well retire after this, but I remember the fatal accident at Misano last year, and the other riders involved carried on. Berger, immediately after Senna's death questioned his own desire to compete.
I think they will carry on, because racers in themselves, accept that death can happen, but also in a way it would be in honour of his memory to continue in a sport they love. I wonder if Rossi will run a tribute to him in Valencia, maybe carry his race number, or style his helmet in honour.

I have affectionate memories of a charismatic man. Crazy afro hair, an indomitable spirit that I believe would have won championships, and attitude to back up his words against Lorenzo some months back.
He was exciting and shaping up to replace Rossi once he retired.
Sadly, that will never pass.
Marco, it's been a pleasure watching you, rooting for you and willing you on. That lap and a half against Bautista summed up everything great about your talent.
You will be sorely missed.
Addio Marco.

I can only assume you used the word "culpable" whilst unsure of its actual meaning. If you check the dictionary definition of the word, you will see that it has no place in this eventin relation to Edwards and Rossi.

[herowassenna]

Originally Posted by Bob Pearson

I can only assume you used the word "culpable" whilst unsure of its actual meaning. If you check the dictionary definition of the word, you will see that it has no place in this eventin relation to Edwards and Rossi.

Probably a bad choice of word, I do understand it's meaning in English and it's origins in Italian/ Latin. "Colpa or culpa in italian translates as fault"
I am not saying they should feel culpable, merely that the next few days, they may experience feelings of guilt and question themselves, what if etc. I think to be human means having emotions about situations.


To quote Mr. V who seems to have written more eloquently than me,

Originally Posted by Mr V

Iirc, Vale was one of the riders saying to Scott Redding last year that he couldn't blame himself for whatever part he played in the death of Tomizawa. He and Colin are now in that same position, they can't blame themselves, although that is easier said than done.

My apologies, I didn't mean to cause offence.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

So, uh, am I seeing what I believe I'm seeing? On the fourth picture it looks like the marshals drop the stretcher...

Not that I think it matters much in this particular case, given the impacts Simoncelli sustained, but still.

I noticed that too. I recall that Kato's passing raised questions about his handling by the marshals right after his accident. Having not seen or read anything other than that picture, I wouldn't want to jump to conclusions, but would believe there was little that could be done for Marco.



We are now left to wonder how good he would have been. Such a shame.

[EGG]

Hi

As mentioned, the stretcher was dropped, there was a groan from the crowd when it happened.

One of the 125 riders appeared to collapse from heat stroke at the end of the race, just before turn 9. I'm not sure who but they were in greenish leathers. The heat/humidity was pretty intense on the day.

[herowassenna]

I'm not trying to exonerate my words from earlier but I found this article by Wayne Gardner which sums up everything I was trying to get across.

Wayne Gardner says it is vital that Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi do not blame themselves in any way for the accident that killed Marco Simoncelli in MotoGP's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Edwards and Rossi struck Simoncelli as he crashed in their path on lap two at Sepang yesterday, in an accident that left the Italian with fatal injuries.

Gardner, the 1987 500cc world champion, was involved in a similar crash with Franco Uncini in the 1983 Dutch Grand Prix - striking the Italian as he tried to run out of his rivals' way after crashing and coming to rest in the middle of the track. Uncini was left in a coma but made a full recovery and is now the MotoGP riders' safety representative.

"Having been involved in a similar incident with Franco Uncini many, many yeas ago, I have a pretty good idea about how they'll be feeling," Gardner wrote of Edwards and Rossi, in a column on his personal website.

"But it simply wasn't their fault. There's nothing they could have done. Both will be replaying the event in their mind over and over again, wondering if they could have veered to the left, the right, braked harder.

"But while a small consolation, the TV footage of the accident - now and in the years to come - will show them they had absolutely no time to avoid the collision. It was, sadly, just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

He said the crash had been particularly unusual and hard to foresee.

"The accident that claimed Marco's life was freakish in the extreme," Gardner wrote. "I've never seen anything like it in all my years associated with racing.

"The start of the incident isn't entirely clear as it happened off camera. All we saw was his bike veering violently to the right and into the path of Colin and Vale. I think he must have initially lost the front, only to have the tyres somehow grip again and launch him straight across the track."

The Australian also told Fox Sports that he regarded Simoncelli as the next big star of the MotoGP scene.

"He was a shining light that was coming through," Gardner said. "He looked like the next superstar. It's a great loss for the motorcycle riding fraternity and a black mark on motor racing."

Gardner hopes Simoncelli's death does not trigger hysteria over MotoGP safety.

"You know, a lot of people and media have been asking me over the past 12 hours if this sport is too dangerous," he wrote on his website.

"The honest answer is that, yes, to a certain extent, it is. And if fans and TV executives are honest, they'll know that danger is part of the appeal and excitement.

"For the riders themselves, the adrenalin-charged thrill of being on the edge is also a huge part of why they race. Of course, we're talking very high speeds and when things go wrong the consequences can be disastrous.

"But at the same time we need to put things into perspective. Other sports (like horse riding, rock fishing, football, cycling, skydiving) are also dangerous. Even simply driving on the roads is dangerous.

"As for MotoGP, everyone involved knows the risks, and extreme measures are taken to ensure a high degree of rider safety. Things like track run-off, protective riding gear, and on-site medical facilities are all first-rate, while the skills of the actual riders themselves is staggering.

"Yet we still have to acknowledge that the worst can sometimes occur. Yesterday's dreadful tragedy was one such time. And while no words can ever make up for such a loss, I'll be choosing to remember Marco for what he was: an exciting, enthusiastic, entertaining, talented, fearless competitor. And, I think it's fair to say, a great bloke."

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/241020...rds-rossi.html

The link is for the above article.

[djb]

God damn it.

thats all I can say. You see an accident like that, and thats just what comes out.

my thoughts are with his family and friends, and the other riders.

(I was away for the last three days, my dad just had a hip replacement operation in another city, so just now saw the race and had no idea of what had happened....)

[gomick]

Ast tragic as the MotoGP race was, did anyone notice how quick that Suzuki was in a straight line at Sepang - Bautista passed Simoncelli on both the last long straight & the start finish straight... Dont know when the last time was that a Suzuki had more grunt than a Honda