SIMONCELLI DIES IN TERRIBLE ACCIDENT
Marco Simoncelli (20 January 1987 – 23 October 2011) was an Italian motorcycle racer. He has competed in the Road Racing World Championship for 10 years from 2002 to 2011. He started in the 125cc class before moving up to the 250cc class in 2006. He won the 250cc World Championship with Gilera in 2008. After four years in the intermediate class, he stepped up to the MotoGP class with the Honda Gresini Team. Simoncelli died after an accident during the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang on 23 October 2011.
Career
He started to run in 125cc in 2002, but he hadn’t got any victories in this category.
In 2006, Simoncelli stepped up to the 250cc class, becoming the only rider from the top eight in previous year's 125cc class to make the step up. He joined the Metis Gilera team, an Italian motorcycle manufacturer who returned to the intermediate class after a lengthy absence. His first season saw him finishing most races he finished between 7th and 10th place. In 2007 he continued with the same team. His season was similar to the previous one and he was again 10th in the final standings, without a podium finish. He had his first 250cc win at the Italian Grand Prix held at Mugello on 1 June 2008 in controversial circumstances when, with one lap to go, he leaned to the left on the long straight, possibly to block off Héctor Barberá. Barberá then crashed into him and Simoncelli won the race by 3 seconds. Barberá was lucky to emerge unscathed. Some people called for sanctions but Simoncelli escaped without penalty: on 7 June he received a verbal warning from the MotoGP Riders Safety Commission. On 19 October 2008 he clinched the 2008 250cc World Championship after finishing 3rd in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. On 25 June 2009, it was confirmed that Simoncelli would move up to premier class racing for 2010 MotoGP championship after agreeing to ride with the San Carlo Gresini Honda team.by Sergio González Conde
