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 Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS