I’ve been very torn since I saw the images and had to decide whether to post the following amateur’s video (after the jump because of the contents) on how Marco Simoncelli’s accident was handled by track side EMT’s at Sepang, because the outcome cannot bring Super Sic back.

My intention, and I think that everyone will agree, that track organizers and Dorna definitely have to do something to raise the professionalism of track side volunteers to ensure proper emergency standards in regards to treating seriously injured riders and how they have to be handled when being moved away from the track.

It seems to me that after the outcry and outrage that followed the way Shoya Tomizawa was transported to the waiting ambulance after his fatal crash during the Misano GP last year, that sadly no one has learned a single lesson from that incident, judging from how Simoncelli was carried away. The Sepang International Circuit stated :

“At the race on Sunday, circuit personnel acted speedily and professionally to attend to Marco as soon as the accident happened. Despite all that was done, the medical team could not change the outcome of the situation given the severity of his injuries.”

But this doesn’t change the fact that Dorna and track organizers have to step up and take more responsibility. Dorna spends millions on taking the Grand Prix series around the world to host the events, the races are televised across the globe, they have state-of-the-art onboard cameras, races are promoted in every possible way, but they should spend some of that money they rake in, on teaching and preparing local medical personnel who volunteer their time, on how to move a polytraumtized rider under critical and terrible circumstances.

Continue reading: Simoncelli like Tomizawa

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It is so hard not to fall into rhetorical phrases and sensationalism (as what happened on Italian television all yesterday afternoon and evening, with the video of the incident almost on a loop) when writing about the death of a motorcycle racer and Marco Simoncelli’s tragic death at Sepang yesterday, on the same track where he won his first and only GP Championship title.

We don’t want to get involved in the debate, now that the shock is starting to wear off, regarding cold tires, electronics, circuit safety, safety gear and why his helmet came off (you can find Maurizio Vitale who is charge of AGV& Dainese for the GP paddock answer on the web) or why the track doctors dragged his stretcher across the grass (very reminiscent of the late Shoya Tomizawa at Misano), we’d rather remember Marco with this small gallery of images, just click on one of the thumbnails to see more.

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Valentino Rossi has finally broken the silent despair in which he retreated in after the terrible and untimely death of his dear friend Marco Simoncelli, in which he and Colin Edwards were unfortunately involved in.

Marco was one of Rossi’s closest friends and the two used to hang out together not only in the paddock, but also off track, where they used to go motocross riding together at the famed Cava egging each other on which also cost Simoncelli a fractured scaphoid back in 2009. The nine times World Champion was one of the few MotoGP riders who in his way defended Marco when he was accused of being an overly aggressive rider, also jokingly saying that Simoncelli was taking advantage of his difficult situation on the Ducati.

Valentino wrote these first words via Twitter for his friend:

Il Sic per me era come un fratello minore,tanto duro in pista come dolce nella vita.Ancora non posso crederci,mi mancherà un sacco.

Sic for me was like a youngest brother.so strong on track and so sweet in the normal life.I will miss him a lot.

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Marco Simoncelli has passed away succumbing to the horrific injuries suffered during the Sepang race. The Gresini Honda rider was declared dead 16.56 local time.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Simoncelli’s family, girlfriend Kate and all his friends in the paddock.

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Today’s MotoGP race at Sepang has been cancelled following Marco Simoncelli’s horrific accident during the second lap of the race at turn 11.

The Gresini rider crashed out and his leg was caught under his Honda as he slid across the track to be hit by both oncoming Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi, who couldn’t avoid him and hit him in the back and neck. The impact was so great that Simoncelli lost his helmet and was left unconcious.

Simoncelli arrived at the medical center in cardiac and respiratory arrest according to the latest reports and is in critical condition.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to SuperSic in this moment.

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Today’s MotoGP qualifying session at Sepang was a Honda affair and tomorrow’s race will probably see an all Repsol Honda podium and maybe a tight race as all three riders have almost the same pace, with Dani Pedrosa just a little faster, especially in the final sector. Marco Simoncelli seems the only rider who can effectively keep up with them if he doesn’t have fuel consumption issues and naturally it will be a battle of the fittest in the torrid climate, unless it rains as Bridgestone’s Hirohide Hamashima is predicting.

Tire choice don’t seem to be a problem for none of the Honda riders, except for Toni Elias who has the usual chronic grip issues. The Yamaha factory team is ko for the second consecutive weekend after Spies’ withdrawl from the race with only replacement rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga present. Yamaha can only count on veteran Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow to go to points.

The Ducati’s are much slower and down on grunt compared to last year, with Nicky Hayden again out qualifying his much more titled team mate Valentino Rossi, who finally looked comfortable in the saddle and even began his leg waving again.

Here’s what the riders had to say after qualifying.

Dani Pedrosa - 1st

“It was a very difficult session, extremely hot, I couldn’t breathe inside the helmet. We had a small crash in the front that I didn’t expect, but was able to go back and go faster and take my second pole of the season. I thought I would be able to improve a little more at the end and get closer to the time I did yesterday, but I found some traffic on my final run. Anyway, it’s good to be on pole and I hope our race pace can be even better. We have to work on the set up and make a good rear tyre choice because our rivals are also very strong. It’s going to be very physically demanding for everybody. To have three Repsol Honda riders on the front row is very good, but we cannot forget the other rivals and we must keep focused to finish the weekend in the best way.”

Continue reading: MotoGP riders on qualifying at Sepang

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Ben Spies arrived in Malaysia full of aches and pains following his qualifying crash at Phillip Island that left him with concussion and ripped tissue around his ribs which ruled him out of the Australian GP.

Now seven days later the factory Yamaha rider who had been declared fit to ride has decided to withdraw ahead of tomorrow’s race at the Sepang International circuit.

Spies struggled through Friday’s practice sessions and today crashed twice, once in the third free practice and then again during qualifying where he managed just a 16th place. The team and rider decided it was better that he opt out of the race and try to recover for the season finale at Valencia in two weeks time and for the official post-race test.

The American will also skip the 1000cc test that Yamaha had programmed for Monday. The grid is now down to 16 riders.

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Dani Pedrosa nipped Casey Stoner’s amazing run of six consecutive pole positions by taking the first spot on tomorrow’s starting grid at Sepang, and his second pole position of the season. The Spaniard who lead all the practice sessions this weekend, despite an early crash qualified on top of timesheet with a blazing 2’01″462 lap, which was enough to pip the new World Champion by a mere 0.029s.

Andrea Dovizioso ended up in third as he and rival Marco Simoncelli exchanged the provisional pole for most of the hour session only to lose out when Pedrosa and Stoner stepped up their game in the final minutes, but the front row will be all Repsol Honda to the delight of both Honda and the Spanish petroleum giant.

Marco Simoncelli was bumped out of fourth by Colin Edwards, in his best qualifying position of the year, and was also the best Yamaha rider on track as team mate Cal Crutchlow made it into 10th. Ben Spies crashed out again, his second of the day, excaberating his already tenuous physical condition, as he ended up in 16th. Jorge Lorenzo’s replacement rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga was last and 2″610 off pace, making it another weekend to forget for the Yamaha factory team.

Continue reading: Dani Pedrosa pips Casey Stoner for pole position at Sepang

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John Hopkins has been forced to withdraw from the rest of this Sepang GP weekend. The American rider has suffered a relapse of the same hand injury that ruled him out of his wildcard appearance at Brno last August.

At Brno, the Anglo-American rider fractured the middle finger of his right hand and had to undergo surgery to plate it, he recovered enough to take part in the last rounds of British Superbike season where he finished second overall in the standings, however after taking part in yesterday’s practice sessions, he aggravated the injury which prompted him to pullout from the rest of the weekend.

“I knew my hand was sore after yesterday afternoon, because it was hurting when I was riding. It is definitely a lot more painful riding a MotoGP bike than it was the British Superbike, mainly due to the immense braking forces on the GSV-R. I woke up just before six this morning and I had quite a bit of pain so I tried to loosen it up and bend it, but that wasn’t an option. The screws and the plates in the finger have come apart and there’s just no movement in the knuckle at all, so I cannot bend the finger. If I get any further damage to the injury it could result in amputation and I certainly don’t want that! He is optimistic that the problem can be resolved in time and will not become a recurrent issue. My doctor is totally confident that he can fix it, but I just haven’t been able to rest it and give it the proper time needed to repair it over the last six weeks. I thought it would be fine to ride this weekend and had every hope of it working, but I didn’t expect the amount of force that goes into riding a GP bike would cause such a problem. It’s heartbreaking and I can’t express my disappointment. It’s such a shame and I couldn’t be more upset, but the priority now is to get it fixed and get myself ready for the 2012 season.”

Hopkins is on LCR Honda’s 2012 riders short list, as well as Crescent Suzuki’s who will debut in World Superbikes next season.

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Dani Pedrosa continued to lead a pack of Honda’s in this morning’s third free practice at Sepang ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying session.

The Spaniard was the only rider to dip under the 2.02 mark with his 2’01″769, however the gap between the Repsol Honda rider and the rest of the field was much tighter in this final pratice session. Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli was second and 0.265s followed by fellow Italian and Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso. Casey Stoner closed out the bevy of RC212V’s in fourth.

Nicky Hayden was fifth and less than half a second from Pedrosa and less than a tenth from the new 2011 World Champion, while Ducati team mate Valentino Rossi squeezed himself into eighth and was less than a second from the top of the chart. Dividing the two GP11’s were Alvaro Bautista and Colin Edwards. Closing out the top ten were Hiroshi Aoyama and Loris Capirossi.

Continue reading: MotoGP Sepang: Dani Pedrosa continues to lead Honda domination in FP3

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Marco Simoncelli best described Dani Pedrosa’s domination during both practice sessions at Sepang with “Pedrosa is like a missile.” Infact the Repsol Honda rider was more than one second faster than the 2007 circuit record and this despite complaints that the track was greasy and offered very little grip. The MotoGP riders will have another session tomorrow morning to find a better set-up before qualifying.

The Malaysian heat and high humidity took a toll on Ben Spies and Hector Barbera who are both trying to recover from their recent injuries.

Here’s what the riders had to say.

Dani Pedrosa - 1st

“Today we went pretty fast and consistent even though the track wasn’t very clean. We did a good job in both practice sessions, but I would like to improve a little more on the chassis side to feel more comfortable with the front and choose the right tyre for the race distance. At the moment we are doing good steps but we need to keep on working with the same style and try to perform well tomorrow in qualifying. We had a bad qualifying in Australia and we want to be stronger here and do it better.”

Continue reading: MotoGP riders comment on Friday at Sepang

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Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa continued Sepang domination in this afternoon’s second free practice with a bevy of Honda RC212V’s in the top five spots.

Pedrosa set a sensational 2’01″250 lap in the final minutes, shaving off almost seven tenths from his morning lap time and while he was at it broke the 2010 pole position record. World Champion Casey Stoner had no response for his ultra fast team mate has he finished second, 0.820s off pace and losing a big amount of time in the last sector of the Malaysian track.

Andrea Dovizioso was third and 1.4s adrift from his Repsol Honda team mate, while Gresini duo Marco Simoncelli and Hiroshi Aoyama completed the top five.

Continue reading: Dani Pedrosa dominates in FP2 at Sepang

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