Sepang aftermath

[zooom]

 Will we even see a Valencia race?      

YES...and like after Kato's death at Suzuka, when the next race, all riders wore or had somewhere on themselves or bike or both a memorial remeberance of the passing of a fellow competitor....they too will all go on...though the impact personally may differ from rider to rider....

RIP Marco...

[The Mad King Pepe']

i'm not sure there is any kind of protection you could put on that would survive being hit by 2 motogp bikes at full tilt.  this accident just sems to be that 1% freak occurrence that you cant plan around.  racing's always dangerous, we just tend to forget that that 1% always exists.

+1 on this.

Should we always strive to make racing, riding, driving, cooking, showering as safe as possible? Of course. Will there eventually be cases that we cannot predict/cover/protect from? Unfortunately yes. Death is inevitable, we're just trying to cheat it as long as possible.

[Chococat]

It would be 'convenient' for Rossi to quit after this, if he wants an out,...

Wow, how heartless of you to say something like this right now.   

RIP 58 

[Drunken Monkey]

Wow, how heartless of you to say something like this right now.   

<mod hat>
Let's not make this personal.
</mod hat>

[Monsterlover]

Wow, how heartless of you to say something like this right now.   

RIP 58 

Drunken Monkey's point aside, being involved in the death of another person changes you in ways you can't understand until you go through it yourself.

If he wanted to stop racing over this most reasonable people wouldn't blame him.  I wouldn't.

[derby]

If he wanted to stop racing over this most reasonable people wouldn't blame him.  I wouldn't.

true, but that's not the way the original comment reads (to me).

it reads more like "if rossi has been looking for an excuse to quit, now's a perfect time to say that it's because of marco."

YES...and like after Kato's death at Suzuka, when the next race, all riders wore or had somewhere on themselves or bike or both a memorial remeberance of the passing of a fellow competitor....they too will all go on...though the impact personally may differ from rider to rider....

we did the same thing in the cmra when ryan smith died (spies' #19 that he ran in worldsbk).

I agree with the inherit danger of racing and, reading the descriptions, the chances of him surviving this specific crash even with his helmet on were slim. I just wonder if they can take this opportunity to develop a mechanism that would hold the helmet in place better during a crash. basically, right now the same strap that we used on a day to day ride is used to fasten a pro racing helmet. They have developed padding and shells, why not something to keep it on your head better?

one thing that i, surprisingly, haven't seen mentioned is that copious amount of hair marco was stuffing in his lid. i've always wondered how that affected "fit" and how safe that was.

[zooom]

one thing that i, surprisingly, haven't seen mentioned is that copious amount of hair marco was stuffing in his lid. i've always wondered how that affected "fit" and how safe that was.

it occurred to me, but I thought it was a bit too fresh to say it yet....

[ducatiz]

one thing that i, surprisingly, haven't seen mentioned is that copious amount of hair marco was stuffing in his lid. i've always wondered how that affected "fit" and how safe that was.

It's been brought up in every forum/list I'm on that discussed it, but not by the MGP or any commentators.  I cannot believe they haven't brought it up in private though.

Simo wouldn't have been Simo without it though...

[gm2]

It looked to me like initially (from Bautista's camera) he was just trying to save the lowside with his knee like those guys do fairly regularly. Something happened though, like the tires gripping unexpectedly, and he was whipped to the right. At that point I think he was just along for the ride. Weird crash.

that's exactly what happened.  he was trying to save it; a normal lowside would have washed him off the left side of the track, out of harms way.  however the front tire suddenly found traction and whipped he and the bike back across the racing line; it was nearly perpendicular.  think the violence of a rear catching and causing a highside, only the other way around.  he was literally thrown in front of Colin and Valentino, nothing anyone could do.

as for the helmet, it looks like the impact struck an anchor point directly.

unbelievable tragedy.  i'm so sorry, Marco.  rest in peace.


incidentally, i thought Ben Bostrom's tribute comments were especially poignant.

[zooom]

incidentally, i thought Ben Bostrom's tribute comments were especially poignant.

I missed those...can you post them directly?...so much flying everywhere on this...

[gm2]

I missed those...can you post them directly?...so much flying everywhere on this...

"Quality vs Quantity in life. We could all learn a lesson here. Live w/the passion Simo raced. Never know when your # is pulled. Ciao Sic"

[The Mad King Pepe']

Found this video of Capirossi & Rossi discussing the accident in the box. (You can't hear what they say, but it should be clear from the gestures)
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/2702/file11947i.mp4

[Raux]

One thing I had always looked for was whether he died on impact, was knocked unconscious or was concious. From the wreck footage and everything I had read it said and looked like he was either dead or out initially and they had to perform CPR.  Then I read a press release from MotoGP that said he was conscious... that's the one I was hoping I didn't find.

[Triple J]

One thing I had always looked for was whether he died on impact, was knocked unconscious or was concious. From the wreck footage and everything I had read it said and looked like he was either dead or out initially and they had to perform CPR.  Then I read a press release from MotoGP that said he was conscious... that's the one I was hoping I didn't find.

Sounds like he was never conscious to me:

When our medical staff got to him he was unconscious. In the ambulance because there was a cardiac arrest they started CPR (cardiac pulmonary resuscitation).

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2011/Race+Direction+press+conference+Simoncelli+Sepang

[Raux]

http://www.bikesportnews.com/news-detail.cfm?newstitle=MotoGP-Sepang:-Race-cancelled-after-Simoncelli-crash&newsid=5944

" Initally, Simoncelli was laid in the middle of the track after his helmet had been ripped off in the accident but he arrived at the medical centre conscious."