"OH NO, OH NO, OH NO!" I cried out. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The time was around 11:00 AM this past Sunday. The MotoGP race from the Sepang circuit in Malaysia had taken place at 4:30 AM and I had taped the race and was wondering if I was still in first place in my Fantasy League. I figured I would watch the taped race sometime later in the afternoon. I turned on the TV to Speed's pre-Talladega show and that's when it happened. They broke in on the broadcast and said, "MotoGP star Marco Simoncelli died today in a crash at the Sepang race in Malaysia." OH NO, I couldn't comprehend what I had just heard. Janice rushed in the room and wondered what was wrong. I was in shock. I couldn't believe the news. How terrible. How unbelievable. I needed to watch the race immediately. How could this tragedy have happened?
I was still in shock as I watched the pre-race commentary. Finally, the riders were on the grid and they started their warm-up lap and I just kept watching Marco on his #58 San Carlo Greshini Honda. This 24 year old kid has at the most only 15 minutes left in his young life. An awful and sad thought. I knew that the accident would happen on lap two of the race. The riders reformed on the grid and the red lights went out and off they went. I kept my eye on Marco. Casey Stoner had taken the lead followed by Dani Pedrosa and Alvaro Bautista. Marco was in fourth. He began racing closely with Bautista and I just hoped that it wouldn't be another rider's fault for the upcoming accident. That would be especially terrible. They all made it safely through lap one and my eyes remained glued on #58. Lap two started and I couldn't believe that this poor kid now had only a couple of minutes left in his life on this earth. It was such a sad thought.
And then it happened. The camera was following America's Colin Edwards and Marco's close friend Valentino Rossi fighting for fifth place. They were leaning through a corner and I noticed Colin flinch his bike a bit and wondered what he did that for. And then out of nowhere and into the TV screen came Marco and his bike flying across and in front of both Colin and Valentino. There was nothing they could do and then the horrible crash. They both plowed into Marco who was still hanging onto his sliding bike. A horrible, horrible crash. Marco disappeared under both Colin and Valentino's bikes and pieces of motorcycles exploded everywhere. Marco's helmet is tumbling off the track and then you see him sliding unconscious from under his bike. His curly long hair and his lanky body motionless. OH NO! The announcers Nick Harris and Gavin Emmett knew too that it was a terrible scene. The red flag came out and all of the riders pulled back into the pits. They showed Marco's girlfriend crying in disbelief. Casey Stoner just stat there with a blank stare on his face. We all knew that it was a terrible accident. The stands were filled with now silent spectators. You could hear the entire crowd gasp when the replay was shown on the big screen. And then we all waited and we all prayed for Marco.
He had been in the process of a low-side crash. Normally the safest form of a crash that a Moto racer can have. The bike is sliding out in front of you. You let go of the bike and head harmlessly into the gravel trap. But those motorcycle racers are so fearless. They hang on as long as they physically can. They want to save the bike and get it upright and continue to race. In this case, it was the wrong thing for Marco to do. His front tire had regained grip and traction and his bike then arced right across the track and into the racing line of Colin and Valentino. There was nothing they could do. A one in a million accident. Then came the news that they had canceled the race. How could they continue after such a horrific accident. No news of Marco came along and after twenty minutes Speed signed off the air, but I knew what the sad outcome would be.
I thought of Marco all day. I loved that kid. Yes, I was angry with him when earlier this year he had crashed in front of my Jorge Lorenzo and had taken them both out. Yes, he made a bonehead move in front of Dani Pedrosa which had caused Dani to crash and break his collarbone. He also had a run in with Casey Stoner and he always seemed to crash out of races earlier this year. But I liked the kid. He had fire and intensity inside of him. I loved his red and white Honda and leathers and helmet. I loved his tribute to Jimi Hendrix wild hair for I too had once sported an afro. And he always rode on the very edge. He had ridden above his talent earlier this year, but now was finding his form. He was just coming into his own. Marco scored his first MotoGP podium a few weeks ago and there is no doubt that he was the rising star and probably would have eventually won a championship. But no more. Marco Simoncelli was gone forever and my heart sank.
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