All posts tagged marco simoncelli
HRC pays respects to Marco Simoncelli at Sepang
Just a little more than three months ago, Marco Simoncelli lost his life during the Sepang GP and now the MotoGP teams are back in Malaysia for the official pre-season three day test that kicks off tomorrow and it will be a very emotional return for everyone present.
To remember that fatal afternoon and to pay their respects to one of their own, yesterday in the silence that will be soon be broken by the scream of the 1000cc engines, numerous members of HRC’s pit crew gathered at the particular part of the circuit to lay a bouquet of flowers and a silent pray for late rider.
We’ll be missing you, Sic.
Photo Source | hrc motogp@twitter.com
Happy Birthday Sic! - videos from the event
January 20th Marco Simoncelli would have turned 25, if that fateful and tragic October 23rd at Sepang hadn’t taken him away from racing and his fans.
A large show called Buon Compleanno Sic! was organized by his family last Friday with the help of numerous Italian comics to thank fans for the warmth and comfort that they given them in these last three months and to gather funds for the foundation that the Simoncelli family set up after his untimely death.
Over six thousand people showed up at the 105 Stadium in Rimini, with fans coming from Spain, Portugal, France and Holland to take part in the three hour long show to laugh and cry and celebrate Marco.
On the same day the town of Coriano officially dedicated their sports arena to the late rider which is now named “Palazzetto dello Sport Marco Simoncelli”and the local bus that goes from Coriano to the Aquafan park and Riccione will now be permanently indicated as the #58.
Simoncelli’s parents were also presented with a song dedicated to their son by Stefano Picchi called “Marco piega a mille all’ora” (Marco leans at 1000 an hour - included in one of the videos after the jump) and all proceeds from the song will go the the Simoncelli foundation.
Since not everyone could be at the Sic’s birthday, we’d like to share the videos that we’ve found on Youtube and the words that an emotional Paolo Simoncelli who said at the end of the show, “If it’s true that angels exist, then Marco from up there would be having a ball.”
Continue reading: Happy Birthday Sic! - videos from the event
Napoli football team pays tribute to Marco Simoncelli
The Napoli football (soccer) team in a postponed match last night payed tribute to the late Marco Simoncelli. Aurelio De Laurentiis, the president of the team invited Simoncelli’s parents, Paolo and Rossella and team manager Fausto Gresini to watch the team play against Bologna at the S. Paolo Stadium in Naples.
Before the start of the match, the team gave Simoncelli’s parents their official footbal jersey emblazoned with Simoncelli’s name and #58 on it which was signed by all the players and the gesture was met with a standing ovation by the attending public.
Andrea Dovizioso's thoughts in a tattoo
In an exclusive interview in issue no.49 of Motosprint magazine Andrea Dovizoso talked about his life-long rivalry and relationship with the late Marco Simoncelli, who he knew from the age of six.
The two riders were completely different character wise, even as children when they were competing against each other, Simoncelli was able to laugh off defeat, even if he was bothered by it while the more serious Dovizioso would hide under the table in his family’s camper crying.
Dovizioso admitted that despite Marco’s on-track aggressiveness and instinctiveness that over the years had rubbed him and then the other top riders the wrong way, there was still respect between them.
The Yamaha Tech3 rider also admitted that when Marco died at Sepang he hadn’t talked to Simoncelli’s dad for over a year due to the rivalry between the two families (even the two fathers would butt heads occasionally), but when he visited the Simoncelli family on the day that the coffin arrived, everything that had happened in the past was put aside and he had to finally accept that Marco was gone and this touched him more deeply than he had ever expected.
So deeply that Dovizioso decided to get another tattoo and this latest one tries to explain his thoughts, “After what happened, here is to Sic my thoughts in a Polynesian tattoo with the sun god (life), the frigate bird (destiny) and a gecko.” While words on the tattoo say, ‘I am the master of my destiny, but only destiny knows the end of my journey.’
Dovizioso isn’t the only Italian rider to remember Marco with ink, life-long friend Mattia Pasini has tattooed on the inside of his left wrist a large 58 and the word Sic that he had done just before Simoncelli’s funeral.
Valentino Rossi gives Kate Fretti a job
Kate Fretti was the late Marco Simoncelli’s girlfriend (Sic in his autobiography wrote that she kept him calm and ‘never busted his balls’) and they were inseparable, although they were both young they had been together for over five years. To help her get through this difficult period Valentino Rossi has offered her a job with his VR46 merchandising company that includes not only his personal brand, but also that of Tony Cairoli and Kevin Schwantz and Simoncelli had just signed with Rossi’s company.
La Kate (as Valentino calls her) will be supervising the logistics of moving Rossi’s numerous staff around the world and will probably also help out on his website, while keeping her late boyfriend’s website up-to-date.
Source | tgcom24.it
Italian showgirl auctions personal leathers in memory of Marco Simoncelli
Melissa Satta is a well known Italian showgirl and a fashion model (she was photographed in Sport Illustrated’s 2010 swimsuit edition wearing only bodypaint, but didn’t make the cut as a model for Victoria’s Secret).
Satta recently put her personal Alpinestars motorcycle leathers and boots up for a charity auction on eBay.These are a special one-off edition as they were customized by artist Lucio Barbuio. The proceeds will go to help children with autism in memory of the late Marco Simoncelli (he used to spend hours visiting with the kids of this association located in Rimini).
Source | motoblog.it
Aligi Deganello is Max Biaggi's new crewchief
Aligi Deganello was the late Marco Simoncelli’s crewchief from 2007 and Simoncelli had insisted bringing his beloved crewchief and 250cc pit crew into MotoGP after winning the 250cc title despite Fausto Gresini’s doubts regarding the team’s complete inexperience in setting up a MotoGP bike, now Deganello has decided after much pondering to give up the GP paddock and become Max Biaggi’s new crew chief in World Superbikes, after the defection of Giovanni Sandi and Enrico Folegnani’s refusal.
For Deganello is wasn’t an easy decision to make, but he needed the change as he said in an interview with Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport, “I spoke with Max, he seemed particularly betrayed by the man he thought was almost like a father. He has a huge desire for re-win the championship and at this point this will be my mission, to give him the tools to win races and maybe even the title. The team is made up of two guys who were with Camier, one from inside Aprilia’s development team and the other is a telemetrist. Immediately after the holidays we’re going to Aprilia to put together the bikes and then to Australia for the last tests ahead of the start of the championship season. I’m may lose sight of some old friends and I’m sorry, but I need this radical change. “
It was Paolo Simoncelli, Marco’s father who recommended that Deganello make the move: “Before going to Noale to hear what they had to offer me, I called Paolo Simoncelli, my “manager.” Basically we talk almost every day and he told me to accept the offer by saying - See, it’s a signal that Marco is sending you, the situation is almost impossible to imagine, with Sandi leaving. Go .. and see if there’s also a job for me - I don’t think this will happen. For me Paolo should work with the Federation, with kids in the minibike championship or for promotional championships, with his experience he’d be the perfect person.
Continue reading: Aligi Deganello is Max Biaggi's new crewchief
Ciao Sic - 2011 Gresini Racing Official Book
Gresini Racing has released their official 2011 book and it’s dedicated to the late Marco Simoncelli called Ciao Sic.This 128 page book put together by publishing house Faenza and Gresini Racing, is full of high quality and magnificent images of Simoncelli and also contains a prologue written by Paolo Beltramo, Sportmediaset’s GP pit lane reporter and close friend of Super Sic (Beltramo also helped write Simoncelli’s 2009 autobiography Diobò che bello!) and also contains some funny and ironic Simoncelli phrases in both Italian and English.
Team owner Fausto Gresini riassumes the joy and pain of this past season with ”Sic, or even better ‘Super Sic’, was extraordinary and with this book we want to remember him for his sincere sympathy and the smiles that he gave us all.”
Part of the proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Marco Simoncelli Foundation and you can buy the book online at www.letsbookandapp.com and costs €24.50.
If you want to see a preview of some of the photos just click here
Fausto Gresini: "Sic? Irreplaceable"
Fausto Gresini was at the the Bologna Motor Show yesterday, a guest at the Gazzetta dello Sport stand and the naturally the interview was about his late rider, Marco Simoncelli and how difficult the Italian manager finds the motivation to continue.
“It ’s always difficult because even if it seems that a lot of time has past since Sepang, infact it’s been very little and the wound is still open. It’s clear that life must go on, you have to react, raise your head. You have to raise your head and start to fight because that’s what Marco would have wanted. However there’s a very deep emptiness and sorrow because the pain of this tragedy will always be with us.”
That said, we have a lot of things to do, but I don’t feel the same as before. I’ve always loved bikes, but right now I can not love them as before, because I feel as if I’ve been betrayed. I still have to get over it and it’s a bit hard. But I have many fond memories of Marco, I like to think of him as he was, always sunny and positive, never angry. Deespite his young age, he taught us many things that we’ll treasure in our future. He was a guy who was able to communicate and he knew how to fight, win and lose always with the same smile. He was a true sportsman and I’d like to remember him that way. The only thing that he had missed was a victory. “
Marco Simoncelli among the Neapolitan Christmas creche figures
In the street of San Gregorio Armeno in Naples you can find the traditional “mercatino dei pastori” (shepherds’ market) where detailed models of creche figures have been handcrafted by skillful artists to the delight of Italians and visitors from around the world.
The statuettes aren’t restricted to the classical figures of the Nativity scene, but also includes tributes to contemporary figures, which can range from famous politicians (Berlusconi, Sarkozy, Merkel, Obama, even Bin Laden and Gaddafi have their own figurines), British royalty, sport stars, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and the late Steve Jobs have also been crafted and now the late Marco Simoncelli has also been added to the long list.
This 28cm high terracotta figurine was created by Genni Di Virgilio, whose family has been making nativity statuettes and ornate creches since 1830. “It’s a tribute to this great champion, not only on the track but also in his private life. We will miss his smile most of all, his desire to live and win,” said Di Virgilio.
Coriano to erect a statue in honor of Marco Simoncelli
Coriano, Marco Simoncelli’s small home town has decided to dedicate a statue to the late GP rider “to keep alive the memory of the great motorcycle champion who died tragically on Sunday October 23rd during the Malaysian GP, a memorial that can be a reference point for anyone who wishes to leave a flower or a thought” reads a note from City Hall. ”
Since the day of his death, the staircase that connects the church to Via Garibaldi has become the de facto symbol of his memory, a place where flowers and notes are left daily, and the city council has identified an area on the left side of the first flight of stairs as a place where to erect the monument, which will be a tangible sign of the affection shown to him by his fans and the citizens of Coriano “.
The Coriano sports hall has also been dedicated to Simoncelli.
Leopard cub named after Marco Simoncelli (w/video)
Their are dozens of initiatives honouring the late Marco Simoncelli in Italy, and the latest involves this Iranian leopard cub born at Rome’s Bio Park Zoo last September.
The cub has now been named ‘Sic’ after the Bio Park initiated the usual - let’s give the cub a name - via web and the only rule was the name had to start with an ‘S’ as mommy leopard is called Silki.
The web community answered en masse and Sic’s name was the most suggested over others like Sky, Sugar and Stain.
Paolo Giuntarelli, president of the Rome Bio Park foundation said, “We’re happy that the web community has chosen the champion’s name. The comments that accompanied the name all indicated the joy and happiness that characterized Simoncelli.”
Source | ilrestodelcarlino.it
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