MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli died exactly a week after Dan Wheldon, and while the tributes poured in for the 24-year-old following his death in Malaysia on Sunday there were calls to investigate the circumstances as the chairman of the Sepang circuit admitted safety in the sport could never be 100 per cent guaranteed.
The 24-year-old Italian lost control of his Honda at turn 11 four minutes into the race, but his bike regained partial grip and swerved across the track, straight into the path of American Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi of Italy.
MotoGP race director Paul Butler pledged to investigate the circumstances surrounding the accident while Sepang circuit chairman Mokhzani Mahathir voiced his condolences and said it was unfortunate that a death occurred for the first time since the circuit opened in 1999.
(excerpt from wikipedia)
Simoncelli was involved in an accident with Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi during the 2011 Malaysian GP at the Sepang International Circuit. In fourth position during lap two, Simoncelli's bike veered across the track and straight into the path of Edwards and Rossi. Edwards was injured with a dislocated shoulder, while Simoncelli lay still on the track after the crash, his helmet having come off during the incident. The race was immediately red-flagged. He was taken by ambulance to the circuit's medical centre, but at 16:56 local time it was announced that he had died from his injuries. Later, at a press conference involving members of the MotoGP Race Direction, Medical Director Michele Macchiagodena said that Simoncelli sustained "a very serious trauma to the head, to the neck and the chest", and was administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation for 45 minutes.
Chetan Vengurlekar