After the death of his only son, Marco’s father, Paolo Simoncelli, pretty soon embarked on a new adventure. After the initial years of mourning, he set about forming a Moto3 team with the help of Honda and Dorna. He wanted to develop new Italian talent – and used this project to distract himself from his immense grief.
But the hardest part of the year for the team owner is the trip to the Malaysian GP at the Sepang International Circuit, which is back on the schedule this weekend. Paolo Simoncelli speaks openly about the dark and sad memories that haunt him every year in Sepang, especially when he visits the accident site and the memorial plaque with his team and some close friends from the paddock.
Anyone who is a father of adult children cannot even begin to imagine the immense suffering that comes with losing a son like Marco Simoncelli. The fact that the accident happened at the age of 24, and that "SIC," in his second MotoGP season on the Gresini Honda team and a former 250cc world champion, was well on his way to becoming a contender for the world championship crown in the "premier class," made the loss even more painful. Marco had finished in 8th place in the overall standings in 2010.
I sometimes meet Paolo and Rossella Simoncelli on the flight to Kuala Lumpur, or in the paddock there, and once a couple of years ago on the Monday after the race at breakfast in the Mövenpick Hotel near the airport. I was always amazed at the dignified demeanor with which Paolo endured such a Sepang weekend. The Moto3 team boss, however, makes no secret of how deeply he feels about attending the Malaysian GP each year. "Porca troia," he sighed. "Damn shit... I'll be so glad to be leaving here today."
I also make sure every year for the Misano GP to cycle from Cattolica to Riccione, and from there up to the magnificently situated Coriano on my road bike, where a huge memorial to Marco can be seen at the first roundabout. A memorial to the town's famous son is also located in the village square next to the church.
The death of Marco Simoncelli deeply shocked the motorcycling world in October 2011. Since the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994, no such charismatic and popular motorsports driver had lost his life on the racetrack.
That's why Super-SIC's death hit so hard for so many people. The sorrow reached unprecedented proportions – and it's still palpable in every corner of the paddock today. You pass a truck bearing the number 58 at least 20 times a day, journalists have decorated their notebooks with the number 58, and the badges are still frequently seen.
Not only that: in 2012, the GP track on the Adriatic Sea was renamed "Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli", and a "Fondazione Marco Simoncelli 58" was established, and there's the "SIC Supermoto Day," where Doriano Romboni sadly lost his life in 2013. A SIC 58 memorial plaque stands at the corner where the accident occurred in Sepang; in his hometown of Coriano, a remarkable SIC museum (with his Honda RC213V) has been built, along with a powerful work of art. The Fondazione has even co-financed the construction of a hospital in Coriano.
Papa Paolo returned to the World Championship in 2017 by running a Moto3 team, SIC58 Squadra. "After Marco's death, I decided to drive through the gate to the paddock with a team truck again someday," he explained. His team has already celebrated GP victories – for example, with Tatsuki Suzuki in 2019. Most recently, Luca Lunetta achieved a strong second place in Mandalika.
The starting number 58 will no longer be awarded in the MotoGP category. Only the Simoncelli family can reverse this decision.
That brings us to a topic: SIC? What does that mean?
How does someone bearing the Simoncelli name end up with such a strange trademark? It can't have anything to do with the family name, can it?
In fact, out of pure curiosity, we researched the origins of this abbreviation. We discovered that Simoncelli adopted the not-so-common Italian phrase "sbattitene i coglioni" as his life motto, which translates roughly as "Fuck it" or "I don't give a shit." The fearless Italian was a nonconformist, a rebel, a daredevil, a fighter; even at a young age, his charisma rivaled Rossi's. That's why he lives on in the hearts of thousands of fans. They soon dubbed him Super-SIC.
In the case of SIC buddy Rossi, only a few insiders know why he's had the initials "WLF" on the collar of his leather suit since childhood. It means "Viva la Figa" – thus putting the primary female sexual organ in the spotlight. "Long live the vulva," is the message.
SIC and the Feud with the Spaniards
Marco Simoncelli, 250cc World Champion on Gilera 2008, then third in the 250 cc class in 2009, was a pop star. His Jimi Hendrix-esque hairstyle made him a teen idol. His irreverent riding style, his boundless talent, his carefree demeanor, and his feuds with the Spaniards in the 250cc era – Marco was a brave young man with rough edges.
The number 58 couldn't be bent. When Dorna simply postponed the 2011 Japanese GP from April to October following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and many in the GP entourage were afraid of the radiation, SIC provocatively had himself photographed in the pit lane with a Geiger counter.
The "Gazzetta dello Sport" covered the Simoncelli drama after the 2011 accident on eleven pages.
Valentino Rossi, of all people, had run over Simoncelli, who had crashed on lap 2, and perhaps caused his fatal injuries. Valentino rumbled over Marco's upper arm, ripping his helmet off with his front fork.
Naturally, the question of why the AGV helmet flew off after the crash was discussed. Was it because Simoncelli, with his bushy hair, was wearing a helmet two sizes larger than his head size would have required?
The AGV developer at the time, Vittorio Cafaggi, said: "The helmet had to fly off. Every chin strap has to withstand a certain amount of stress, and then it's bound to break. The chin strap was ripped out. If the helmet hadn't come off, Marco's head would have been torn off..."
Portugal 2011: The Clash with Lorenzo
Rossi and Simoncelli were best friends – and they would have become business partners in 2012. Rossi's company, "VR46 Apparel," was supposed to distribute Super-SIC's merchandise in 2012.
Simoncelli and Jorge Lorenzo, however, weren't exactly on the same page. Lorenzo, then a Yamaha star, was repeatedly upset about the rebellious and disrespectful MotoGP intruder from Italy in 2011 because he was involved in multiple collisions with well-known opponents.
Before the 2011 Portuguese GP, Lorenzo and Simoncelli sat next to each other at a pre-event press conference in Estoril. Lorenzo said to his neighbour, in essence: "MotoGP is dangerous enough, we don't need maneuvers like that. If you do something like that again..."
Simoncelli cheekily interrupted him. "What happens then? Will I go to jail?" he asked with a grin. The video is a hit on YouTube.
But after Marco's death, Jorge Lorenzo was just as deeply affected as all his fellow riders.
Valentino Rossi later described Simoncelli's character using an example: "After that press conference, I took Marco aside that evening and strongly urged him to be a bit more careful in duels, at least in the near future. But at the next race in Le Mans, he brought down Dani Pedrosa, and Dani broke his collarbone. That's just how Marco was..."
Sepang: Clumsy Rescue
The rescue attempt by the Malaysian track marshals was immediately exposed as clumsy by spectator videos. They loaded the lifeless Simoncelli onto a stretcher and ran toward the triple barrier, behind which an ambulance was waiting. In their haste, a rescuer stumbled, and the stretcher temporarily slipped from the frantic rescuers' grasp. It tumbled into the grass, Simoncelli and his body together.
But the Honda factory rider was already dead. "Marco's heart stopped beating on the track due to the severe chest injuries," reported Race Director Paul Butler.
His father, Paolo Simoncelli, also confirmed this. "I was at the scene of the accident. Marco was already dead. I took his hand, I spoke to him. But he was already dead."
For the shocked Paolo Simoncelli, his world collapsed. "A coincidence," he sighed. "A ten-centimeter difference would have been enough to injure his shoulder instead of his neck. Unfortunately, Marco was hit right between his neck and head. Even in death, he was so beautiful. I love him deeply..." Paolo was aware: "After the funeral, loneliness begins for us."
"Marco was something special"
Papa Paolo had sold his ice cream shop to help finance Marco's racing career and to accompany him to all the races.
"Marco was something special. People sensed and felt that. He was happy to be able to lead a simple life, with his dog, in the countryside. He enjoyed everything uncomplicated. Only rarely did a bad word pass his lips, only when he felt compelled to. Marco was always honest and open. Perhaps that was the reason for his early death. They say God takes the best. I don't know if it's true. But I hope it is," Paolo muses.
He said goodbye to Marco with a hug before every race, the senior revealed. "Even on that Sunday in Sepang. But it didn't help. The day before, he said to me: 'I'm tired.' I want to go home.'" Only fews days earlier he he secured his first MotoGP podium – with a second place to Stoner at Phillip Island.
"I taught Marco to be a warrior and never give up... I don't know if I did the right thing," Paolo reflected after the accident. "If he had left motorcycling, he would still be alive."
"Before the ill-fated race in Malaysia, Marco bathed in a pool of ice cubes because of the heat," said his father, Paolo Simoncelli. "He was desperate to win. He was in top shape and convinced that sooner or later he would become MotoGP World Champion."
It's a strange twist of fate that the GP track in Malaysia is also called SIC – which stands for Sepang International Circuit.
Marco Simoncelli's body was cremated. "We had an agreement," Paolo later revealed. "He would have me cremated one day and keep my remains on his bedside table; that was the agreement. And from time to time, he would take me for a walk in the garden. He set me up. He tricked us all."