Drivers and teams pay tribute to Marco Simoncelli in Sepang

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix

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F1 drivers and teams have paid tribute to Moto GP rider Marci Simoncelli in Sepang.

Simoncelli was killed in a race at the circuit in October last year.

Fernando Alonso said: “From now on, coming here will never be the same again as it will always make one think of Marco.

“I think the Ferrari family and all Italians who love sport and motorcycling will remember him always. His death was something one could never have expected. We will remember him always and he will always be a hero to us.”

Felipe Massa added: “We wanted to go to Turn 11 to pay a tribute to Marco’s memory. I think it was the least we could do for him, for his family and for all his fans. I think that all weekend long, we will drive here with thoughts of Marco.”

The Ferrari team displayed the message “Sic: Always with us” on their pit board.

Heikki Kovalainen and was among other drivers who visited the site of Simoncelli’s crash at turn 11.

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix


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    Keith Collantine
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    17 comments on “Drivers and teams pay tribute to Marco Simoncelli in Sepang”

    1. Fair play, but could Alfonso not have taken his bloody sun glasses off?

      I don’t know, it kind of bugs me if I’m honest, doesn’t seem that respectful.

      1. I still have a hard time that Marco is gone. Met him in the paddock @ Laguna Seca last year. He was so friendly; good with the fans & what a stud racer. Even though I’m American, Marco was my fav.

        As for Alonso, agreed, take off your sunglasses (& stop biting Kimi’s style ;)

        RIP, Marco. MotoGP will never be the same.

        1. Well technically they should have taken their caps off as well. As for Marco, I was very close to watching the Race on TV. I remember starting to watch ( It would have been my first and only MotoGP race ) and then changed the channel. I was very sad to hear later that a racer had died in the same race and made me really appreciate how safe F1 has become and how dangerous any form of racing is.

          1. That’s ironic, the first IndyCar race I watched was the one where Dan Wheldon passed away.

            +1 on the hats.

          2. No one talks about it much, but what caused Marco Simoncelli’s death that day was the AGV helmet snapping off. Marco’s helmet-less head was exposed to the impact of Colin Edwards’ bike and the tarmac. I wonder whether investigations are going on (perhaps behind the scenes) as to why the crash helmet came off. The helmet is supposed to stay on the head whatever be the impact or there is no point in wearing it. We talk about MotoGP circuit safety and all the giant strides that need to be taken, but frankly it was the helmet’s failure to stay on the rider’s head that killed Marco that day.

      2. Also, because of the hat + glasses + goatee + MotoGP + Ducati connection I honestly though Alfonso was Nicky Hayden.

      3. You know what doesn’t seem that respectful, either? Intentionally not spelling his name right

        1. Whose name? Teflonso’s?

    2. Riposa in pace, Super Sic

    3. I still cant believe he is dead, too young. I still feel like he will be racing in the next moto gp race…

    4. I have to say that was a very nice gesture.

    5. grande super sic RIP

    6. A nice touch. It’ll be uncomfortable viewing for me, seeing that corner again on TV.

    7. Super Sic 58

    8. I don’t follow MotoGP but it never crossed my mind that this was the circuit.

      Hopefully the media at large will share this with the viewing audience. It is important to the motorsport community to respect those who we have lost.

    Comments are closed.