The memory of Marco Simoncelli will hang heavy on the season-ending Valencia MotoGP tomorrow.
The young Honda rider’s death in a horror crash at the Malaysian GP has cast a pall of gloom on the sport as the curtain falls on the campaign.
Under normal circumstances — and with the MotoGP title already claimed by Casey Stoner — another Italian, Loris Capirossi, could have hoped to have been the focus of attention as the veteran will retire after the race following 22 years of action.
Photo: EPA
Former 250cc world champion Capirossi will make his 328th and final Grand Prix start and the Pramac Racing rider says he and his fellow racers are determined to pay a fitting tribute to Simoncelli.
“It will be difficult to be in the paddock without Marco, as everyone will miss him. No one will feel like going on the track, but we have to do it for him and for all fans of motorcycle racing,” Capirossi said.
“It will be my final race and I still don’t know what will be going through my head, but I want to do it as well as possible,” the 38-year-old said.
Despite the deep mourning the sport is in following the Simoncelli tragedy the Italian’s Gresini Honda manager, Fausto Gresini, said the show must go on — and that Simoncelli would not have wanted it any other way.
“The decision was not easy, but we made a choice as we think that’s what Marco would have wanted,” Gresini said. “Putting our wheels down on this track are the best homage we could pay to him.”
Participants will make a special, poignant tribute at the Ricardo Tormo circuit tomorrow morning just after the warmup session.
Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards, who along with Valentino Rossi saw Simoncelli veer right into their path at Sepang, dislocated his shoulder in the accident and will give way to double Superbike champion and fellow American Josh Hayes.
Australian Stoner has already taken the championship crown, while Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo will finish as runner-up even though he will miss the race, which he won last year, as he recovers from finger surgery after crashing in the Australian GP warmup at Phillip Island.
Although the top two placings are confirmed there is still a duel for third place as only four rankings points separate Repsol Honda teammates Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set