Marco Simoncelli, a rising star in the world of MotoGP, died Sunday at Sepang. He was just 24. Warning: Video of his gruesome crash, below.
The crash comes one week after Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon was killed in a 15-car accident in the IndyCar finale at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Simoncelli, nicknamed ‘Super Sic' and sporting a mop of curly hair, Simoncelli was predicted by many to be a future MotoGP world champion.
Simoncelli lost control of his Honda at turn 11 four minutes into the Malaysian MotoGP. Then, after regaining partial grip, Simoncelli's bike seemed to swerve across the track, his body completely unmoving (almost as if he passed out) and dangerously close to the ground — and into the path of American Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi of Italy.
Ironically, the track was the same Malaysian circuit where the Italian won the 250cc world title in 2008
Editor's Note: Some people have expressed their uneasiness with us posting the above video. Their arguments split them into two groups.
The first group are upset because they don't want to watch the video. For those people, it's why we were clear when we first published — at the top of the story — that there's some very disturbing video in the post. People can choose to watch it or not to watch it. I don't disagree with these people for not wanting to watch it — and it's why we're very clear with the warning up top.
The second group, however, claim that we shouldn't even post the video because it's "wrong" or "distasteful" or because "we should remember Marco riding at his best." I have a real problem with those arguments because if we're going to glorify motorsports we also have a moral obligation to also not sanitize the potential for death and serious injury that sometimes await participants.
Yes, it can be horrible. Yes, it can be deadly. But it's also reality. And we're not going to pretend it didn't happen or not provide the video because it might upset someone. It's important that we all see what happens when things go wrong — because it reminds us of the bigger picture — life.
You don't have to watch it if you don't want to. I don't force you to. In fact, I warn you that it'll be shown. If you don't want to see it, or don't feel comfortable with it, then don't click "Play." Heck, if you truly disagree with me, you probably won't read the site anymore. And I'm sorry if that's the case.
I love you guys, but you're all adults — and it's why we give you the choice to begin with.
Photo Credit: Mirco Lazzari / Getty Images Sport