Ciao Marco!

I once dissed him. Little that I know he’ll be gone just a few months later. I know this sounds hypocritical. It maybe is but over the past few months I’ve learnt to admire his gung-ho riding style and his infectious happy go lucky attitude. When I saw the accident, I had a bad feeling. I watched Colin Edwards and Rossi ran into him, which was bad. But when I saw his helmet roll along the ground, my heart sank. I just know something was terribly wrong.

He lay motionless on the track. Then the footage was cut. Star Sports understandably did not want to show Simoncelli in his weakest moment. All signs point south. The race was cancelled which was a sign of further bad news. Later I got to know that the cancellation was due to the frantic efforts by the track’s medical team to save Marco. Efforts which were in vain. I got to know of his passing via twitter. I was distraught.

He was heading in the right direction. Sure his riding style and combativeness riled a few people, but in the end he was just a furiously competitive racer. During the beginning of his career, he was regarded as a crasher. A word which requires no explanation. But he rose to become the 250 cc (Moto 2 now) World Champion. To my recollection he was one of only a few riders who rode a Gilera bike in the 250 cc World Championship that year. Somehow he made it work after some hard racing (and crashing).

He wasn’t in a hurry to move up to MotoGP though. He took his time and went for another go at the 250 cc championship. During which he lost his championship to Hiroshi Aoyama, ironically his teammate at the Gresini team. His first season in MotoGP was peppered with crashes but he still managed to place 8th in the Championship, which was not a bad feat. He really shone in his second season. Of course the reckelessness is still evident, but the maturity was also beginning to show. 2 pole positions and 2 podium finishes proved his quality. A precocious talent, taken too soon. He was taken doing the thing he loved most. Ciao Marco! You’ll be missed.

Simoncelli during happier times *photograph credit to Google

Simoncelli doing was he does best...you'll be remembered! *photograph credit to Google