F1 Fanatic

If I was John Smith, the man on the street, I’d be asking why people are going out and losing their lives for our entertainment.

When Paul Dana died – the last fatal accident in Indycar before Dan Wheldon – his widow said that the appeal of the sport was never in entertaining crowds or in risking his life. It was about the untapped possibilities of what could be achieved in a state that no other human being could reach.

horrific and weird crash.
Sic was a real character in MotoGP, a light-hearted, passionate guy.
He was just a year older than me, thinking that he’s just passed away is so strange.

i don’t know what i can say any more, i’ve lost the ability to write. RIP Marco.

@Icthyes – I feel the same way. I never saw Senna’s accident, nor Wheldon’s. But I saw Simoncelli’s.

Minutes before, Marco was having an exciting battle with Bautista, doing the thing he loved most and the thing he did best, only to fall off and cruel chance bring him into the path of Colin Edwards.

If it were any other rider, they would have let go. Not Simoncelli. Even when the bike was so far over that there was no way it could be righted, he still tried. And if any other rider had tried it, they would not have succeeded. So I think that’s how I’m going to remember him: not as a rider who died while racing, but as someone who could catch a tenth of a second that no-one else could see.

I decided not to watch the MotoGP today but I usually do. A few minutes ago I logged onto Twitter and saw in my timeline “#RIPMarco” and I felt overwhelmingly sick and confused. With Dan, I watched the accident (not live but not long after it happened as it was everywhere) and I was in shock and it strangely was hard to cry because I just couldn’t believe it but when I read that little thing on Twitter I burst into tears.

I’m a MotoGP fan, I am a Marco fan as he was such a personality and his hair is cool and I just couldn’t imagine the sport without him even though he hasn’t been in it that long. The only bit of comfort I can find right now like Icthyes is that he was doing something he loved but two deaths in so little days makes motor racing feel hollow and cold.

Rest in peace Marco but more than anything I hope your family and friends can find some peace too.

I was supposed to watch the Las Vegas Indy race, but I fell asleep before it came on. I woke up the following morning to the news that Dan was gone.

Now, I was supposed to watch the Sepang MotoGP race too. I had even watched the 125s and Moto2. But then I was suddenly sent out on an errand, and that was that. Just as I finished my errand, I got the news that Sic was gone too.

Marco was greatly under the spotlight this year, for better or worse. His riding style was always spectacular, but it got to a point where the riders were criticizing him in public for all the incidents he got involved in. He mellowed down a bit in the middle of the season, and that cost him some results. But he had begun to find himself again, and was seemingly back on his upward trend to winning and stardom (if not superstardom). For all the praise and the flak Marco has received this year, no one could’ve really hated him so badly. And certainly no one would’ve thought it would end this way. He was MotoGP’s very own Sideshow Bob, and as fans of the Simpsons know, no matter what Bart did, Sideshow Bob never died. Alas, the real world is very different.

My last memory of Marco is when I saw him flashed on the TV coverage just before I left the house earlier. He was in the garage, psyching himself up for the race, when he noticed the TV camera rolling beside him. He took a look at it, then actually spent a few seconds pointing out his brand-new website posted on the garage wall. And I guess that’s how I’ll remember him. His attitude and demeanor on and off the track – the way he talked, the way he walked, the way he rode – he did that all for the fans. He did that all for us.

Requiescat in pace, Marco. Grazie mille.

PS. Spare a thought for Fausto Gresini. Before Marco, the last death in the MotoGP class was Daijiro Katoh. Both were racing for Gresini when they passed away. It’s not your fault, Fausto. For better or worse, it’s just racing.

I expected great things from him in future. A big loss for Moto GP fans. Thoughts with his family and friends. You’ll always be World Champion for all your fans.
RIP Marco. :-(

I also had never witnessed a death live in motorsport until today. My gut sank when I saw the accident, and I didn’t want to believe it was real.
I have never really been much of a MotoGP fan. I would watch the odd race here and there, and have a look at how the riders were going in the championship. Even being an Aussie, with Casey doing well this year I still didn’t take that much more of an interest. What did get me interested this year was Marco, such a character that he grabbed my attention, and made me more interested in MotoGP.
Normally I would only read comments about such events, but not comment myself.
But such was Marco’s character, that he drew me in to become more interested in MotoGP, and express my feelings on this sad day.

I can’t imagine how Colin Edwards and in particular Valentino Rossi must be feeling; Simoncelli was along with Capirossi Rossi’s closest friend in the paddock and he was involved in the crash that caused his death. Truly tragic set of circumstances, particularly in the week following Wheldon’s death. Wouldn’t be surprised even if Rossi called it a day.

I don’t think much could have been done differently, its just a terrible fact in bike racing that if you fall into the path of another bike fatalities can occur. It happened with Tomizawa in Moto 2 last year and now with Marco. Simoncelli could have won races next year, and would have been putting pressure on Pedrosa’s factory seat for the year after. Alas no more. RIP Marco, thanks for the memories and excitement.