Marco Simoncelli

[dribbler 6]

Marco Simoncelli died today at the Maysian motogp after leaving his motorcycle then being hit by Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi. The impact of the collision caused him to lose his crash helmet.

I'm sickened and stunned. Marco was such a breath of fresh air. Consistently qualifying higher than he should have done and shaking up the establishment. Disliked by three riders in particular, respected by the others. Persoanlly, I was relishing the cahnce to see him climb throught the ranks. With his cheeky demeanour and massive hair, I was a big fan.

So, another motorsport great leaves us in the space of seven days. Is this a precedent for events at the end of a season when competitiors are most determined to make their mark?

[Rainmaster 7]

He really was a breath of fresh air. A nice antidote to some of the other personalities at the top of MotoGP at the moment, in my opinion. He had his problems as a rider but I think he learned a lot this year, and nobody could deny his brilliant talent. I'm gutted that we'll never get to see what he could have achieved. Let's hope that bad things don't come in three's.

[HandyNZL 1]

Not a good thing to see, for sure.

However, I wonder how long it will take for the "experts" to come out of the woodwork and complain about safety levels.

[Massa 0]

Heart goes out to everyone close to Marco, the MotoGP community, and anyone else who could use some love. Can't comment much on him as I only passively follow MotoGP. I knew of him as a hard racer, and that's good enough for me. Certainly sad to see.

[dribbler 6]

Not a good thing to see, for sure.

However, I wonder how long it will take for the "experts" to come out of the woodwork and complain about safety levels.

I think even the staunchest advocators of safety would consign this one to the freak bin. In normal circumstances, Marco would have slid off the track and out of harm's way. When fatalities occur in modern motorsport, it's normally where all the stangest of pieces fall into place to create such an outcome.

To cover each one of these off, you effectively end up with no motorsport. You are left with a clear choice. Have motorsport with risk or no motorsport at all.

I can't shake off the feeling. Right now, I wonder whether I'll ever ride my motorbike again. If I feel like that, I can only wonder how Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi feel.

[Kopite Girl 0]

Lost for words. Can't find the right thing to say. Maybe there is no right thing to say.

[Rainmaster 7]

I think even the staunchest advocators of safety would consign this one to the freak bin. In normal circumstances, Marco would have slid off the track and out of harm's way. When fatalities occur in modern motorsport, it's normally where all the stangest of pieces fall into place to create such an outcome.

To cover each one of these off, you effectively end up with no motorsport. You are left with a clear choice. Have motorsport with risk or no motorsport at all.

I can't shake off the feeling. Right now, I wonder whether I'll ever ride my motorbike again. If I feel like that, I can only wonder how Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi feel.

It must be especially hard for Rossi, they were very close. http://www.valentino...m/index-en.html

There are some other pics here for anyone interested. http://martinheathph...lery.php?s=1282

Matt Roberts' blog is good too and so is Kevin Schwantz's article.

I'm definitely going to miss SuperSic.

[Autumnpuma 0]

I think even the staunchest advocators of safety would consign this one to the freak bin. In normal circumstances, Marco would have slid off the track and out of harm's way. When fatalities occur in modern motorsport, it's normally where all the stangest of pieces fall into place to create such an outcome.

To cover each one of these off, you effectively end up with no motorsport. You are left with a clear choice. Have motorsport with risk or no motorsport at all.

Indeed.

[JHS18 0]

I've been away from this forum for a little while, but since I'm back, I thought I'd still share my thoughts.

I was shocked and sickened by the news of Wheldon and Simoncelli's passings.

I'll never forget where I was or what I was doing when I heard the news.

Two brilliant talents, gone. Even now, a few weeks on, my same feeling of shock and disbelief remains, when I hear their names in the same sentence as "killed".

I've followed motorsport from a young age, but thankfully safety has improved so much in the time I've been alive, that I've been fortunate enough to see very few fatal or serious accidents in racing, the thing I love.

I don't wish to hear about a death in motorsport for the rest of my life, however unlikely that is.

Marco was somebody I admired a lot. I haven't been able to see as much MotoGP this year as I'd have liked too and fortunately didn't see his crash live. When you watch a race, there's always a few names in particular you automatically look for on the leader board. Simoncelli was one of those for me. Sure, Stoner and Pedrosa didn't like his riding style, but it didn't seem to faze Marco at all. He just got on with his job. A super young talent.

Dan...what can you say? Brilliant talent, one of Britain's finest athletes, even if he did get very little recognition back in his home country, which is a crying shame. I'd love BBC's sports personality of the year to go posthumously to Dan, his drive at the Indy 500 deserves it this year more than any premiership footballer, golfer, rugby player or jockey does.

R.I.P to them both.