On Saturday evening, for the second consecutive year the Buon Compleanno Sic (happy birthday) event took place to remember the late and still very much missed Marco Simoncelli who would have turned 26 on January 20th.

The event was organized by the Marco Simoncelli Foundation and held at the 105 Stadium in Rimini with all proceeds of the evening going to help the Foundation carry out their charity projects. Almost 5000 people turned up for the event including friends like Mattia Pasini and Valentino Rossi.

The event also was used to present the new “Squadra Corse Sic 58” team that will see two young riders Kevin Sabatucci and Mattia Casadei race in the Italian PreGP championship (for 13 to 16-year olds) on Honda machines with San Carlo as their sponsor and Fausto Gresini supplying the technical support, but more importantly the team will be run by Paolo Simoncelli.

The initial idea of forming a racing team honouring Simoncelli’s name came from his former MotoGP crewchief Aligi Deganello (now with Aprilia in WSBK’s) and Aldo Drudi back in March 2012, who both thought that Paolo Simoncelli could really help in the formation of talented young riders.

Yesterday may have been a holiday in Italy and despite the freezing temperatures and an overnight snowfall, hundreds of fans still turned up in the small town of Coriano to see the inveiling of the memorial and be the first to see the exhibition dedicated to the late and still very much missed Marco Simoncelli.

The day was dedicated to Simoncelli and began with the unveiling of “Il podio del Sic” (Sic’s podium) that is represented by three blocks of white marble that are now permanently located on the left side of the church - near the steps where his funeral was held - with a glass plaque that has written on it: “Mi piacerebbe essere ricordato come uno che in gara sapeva emozionare.” (I’d like to be remembered as someone who knew how to give emotions when racing)

The “History of Sic” exhibition with its white walls and red leather striped inserts is located on the first floor of the Palace of Culture and divided into themes: with the display of his racing career including fifteen helmets, twelve racing leather suits and the #58 Gilera that he won the 2008 250cc World Championship, minimotos, go-karts, even his podium champagne bottles, but the display also includes photos and momentos of his private life and in one of the rooms is made out to be an exact replica of his San Carlo Honda Gresini Team pit box and there are also maxiscreens with racing highlights from his career.

An emotional Paolo Simoncelli said, “It’s nice thought by the people of Coriano, the town and all those who contributed to this and we’re happy as a family. It’s the least we could do, he has given so much, I think Coriano owed it to him. In this museum there is Marco’s lifetime from the beginning to end. Everyone will look at it with his own eyes and his thoughts. My thoughts? I’d rather keep them to myself.”

Photo source | ansa.it

On Thurday, September 13th at 6pm at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli ahead of the weekend’s GP Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, all the GP riders from all three classes will lap the circuit with bicycles to pay tribute to the late Marco Simoncelli.

A new book on the much missed Simoncelli will also be hitting the Italian bookstores this month and it’s called Il nostro Sic (Our Sic) and written by Simoncelli’s parents, Paolo and Rosella with the help of Paolo Beltramo, Sportmediasets pitlane reporter (who Cal Crutchlow had some words for via Twitter) and published by Rizzoli.

The book contains numerous photographs and documents of Marco’s life and career, but above all it’s the story of Marco, written by who loved him the most and with the contribution of all his dearest friends.

Marco’s mantra was, “You live more in five minutes going flat out than some people live in a lifetime … “but before there was SuperSic, there was Marco”, says a line in the book. “A boy with a head of natural curls and the dream of being the best. Whether it was riding his bicycle with no hands down the the hills or winning the Minimoto Championship when he was twelve, it didn’t matter: Marco wanted to be ahead and always with his peculiar style, because on a motorcycle, any motorcyle, it was always a little tight.”

Hopefully someday some publisher will decide to translate and publish this book along with his autobiography Diobò Che Bello, for the thousands and thousands of non Italian fans.

During last Saturday’s fourth round of the Supermoto International Series at the Pomposa circuit (Ravenna, Italy) it was officially announced the latest event to help raise funds for the Marco Simoncelli Foundation..

The event created and organized by Federico Capogna is called “Sic Supermoto Day,” a supermoto endurance race that will be held next December 2nd and will be hosted at the Sagittario International Circuit (Latina, Italy) and promises to be packed with the partecipation of MotoGP stars.

On September 1st, Sic Supermoto Day will be opening an online registration site and with the last remaining open spots still available, will allow you the awesome opportunity to take part in the event as a competitor.

“The memory of Marco and the commitment of the Marco Simoncelli Foundation” - said Paolo Simoncelli, present at the presentation - “is the engine of our existence - everything revolves around several projects, such as the construction of a new hospital in Santo Domingo, near the Haitian border, but there’s also an abandoned hotel in the city of Coriano where Marco used to live that we want to turn into a day care center for disabled children. This isn’t an easy feat, but it allows us to be close to our dear Marco, and give us strength every day. ”

It was a very emotional ceremony at the Mugello in front of the Honda Gresini hospitality earlier today, the parents of late Marco Simoncelli were presented with one of his son’s factory RC212V MotoGP machines and a ‘Super Sic’ special edition CBR1000RR by Honda.

HRC Vice-President Shuhei Nakamoto and Minoru Kato, Honda Europe Motorcycle Division Director, donated to Paolo and Rosella Simoncelli - who returned to a MotoGP circuit for the first time since their son’s tragic death at Sepang last year- to receive the bikes. The CBR will be auctioned off to raise funds for The Marco Simoncelli Foundation.

For this weekend’s Mugello GP San Carlo Gresini Honda will be returning to its white livery to pay tribute to their late rider Marco Simoncelli and the Marco Simoncelli Foundation.

Fausto Gresini decided to abandon the white paint job at the start of the 2012 season to mark their need from change and as sign of respect towards Simoncelli. stating that black is an aggressive racing color.

Paolo Simoncelli (in the video) will be receiving two special bikes this Saturday that will be donated by Honda, his son’s RC212V, and a special edition SuperSic CBR1000RR that will be auctioned to raise funds for the Foundation.

Fausto Gresini “Seeing the white livery on our bikes again was incredibly emotional. The choice to race in black was out of respect for the memory of Marco and to send out the message that he will never be replaced. Several months on Marco remains in our hearts and his fans have been very vocal to me saying that they would like to see the return of the one thing that most reminds them of him. Now we are back in white and my heart feels like it will explode.”
The team also added in their blurb that this change is only the beginning …

Last December, Aligi Deganello who was the late Marco Simoncelli’s crewchief and now is Max Biaggi’s crewchief in World Superbikes suggested that with all the experience that Paolo Simoncelli has, he should work with a racing team in one form or another, and now rumors in Italy actually suggest that Simoncelli Sr. might be actually forming his own team with the help of Aldo Drudi.

Drudi as everyone knows is the famed graphic designer of Drudi Performance and is responsible for the designs on Valentino Rossi’s helmets, Simoncelli’s and many other riders and team liveries.

In an interview with Italian website moto.it Drudi sort of quashed the rumor, but did admit that he and Paolo have been talking about it and thinks that this would be a great way to keep Marco’s name alive in pro-active way and believes that Simoncelli’s dad could really help a talented young rider.

Drudi also said that while he isn’t a talent scout, he is a motorcycle racing fan and if this project should actually come around he’d be fully behind it and already has an idea for the #58 Sic Racing Team livery, white, red and black, Marco’s colours.

The late Marco Simoncelli is still very sorely missed in Italy and his wonderful family is trying to keep his memory alive with the Marco Simoncelli Foundation and dad Paolo is often invited to talk about how his son was.

In a recent visit to the Einaudì High School at Porto Sant’Elpidio (Fermo), Paolo told the students about how his son would often visit institutes for the disabled when he wasn’t racing and when he’d come out he’d tell me, “See daddy, people should come to these places more often, they’d comprehend things a lot more. Marco was such a better person than I am,” said Simoncelli

Paolo Simoncelli movingly tells ancedotes about his son, “Life without Marco is hard, but the affection that these students give us is wonderful and hearwarming. For five years I attended the Montani school in Fermo where I graduated as an electronics technician and during the 20th class reunion, I decided to go by motorcycle and brought Marco who was five at that time with me and he fell asleep on the way and I almost had to tie him to stop from falling off.”

It isn’t easy for Paul Simoncelli who has trouble holding back the tears while signing autographs, but he added ” the legacy that Marco left and the foundation that we set up to raise funds for people with disabilities and in a short period of time we’ve raised more than 700,000 euros, which is extraordinary.”

Source | racing.blogosfere.it

A non-profit foundation in memory of Marco Simoncelli came from an idea of Carlo Pernat and the Simoncelli family embraced the idea wholeheartedly and now the foundation has been legally formed.

The president of the foundation will be Rossella, Marco’s mother, while Paolo Simoncelli’s sister Angela and Dr. Arnaldo Cappellini will be the board members. Sister Martina and girlfriend Kate, with assistance from close friends Carlo Pernat (Simoncelli’s manager) and Paolo Beltramo (Mediaset MotoGP journalist and co-author of Simoncelli’s autobiography) will offer their help.

“There’s all the promises that this big dream to keep Marco’s memory alive will turn into something very important and help those who are worse off than we are,” said Paolo Simoncelli. “It is hard for me to say now where and how the funds raised will be distributed because at the moment I can’t assess the amount of money we’ll have available as time goes by. One thing is certain, I will try and manage all this as a good father.”

Continue reading: The Marco Simoncelli Foundation

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