Marco Simoncelli

Simoncelli was born in Cattolica and grew up in Coriano. He began racing minibikes at age seven, entering the Italian Minimoto Championship in 1996 at nine years old. He won the Italian Minimoto Championship in 1999 and 2000, and finished runner-up in the 2000 European Minimoto Championship. In 2001 he won the Italian 125cc Championship in his rookie year. In 2002 he won the European 125cc Championship.

In August 2002, Simoncelli made his first Grand Prix appearance with Matteoni Racing, replacing Czech rider Jaroslav Huleš at Brno. Riding an Aprilia with number 37, he finished 27th. In the following race at Estoril he scored his first championship points with a 13th-place finish. He ended that shortened debut campaign with three points from six races.

In 2003, his first full season, Simoncelli adopted the number 58 that would become his identifier throughout his career. He scored points in six races, with a best result of fourth at Valencia, finishing 21st in the championship with 31 points.

For 2004, Simoncelli switched to the WorldwideRace team under the Rauch Bravo name, again on an Aprilia. At Jerez he recorded his first pole position; in the wet race, he inherited the lead when Casey Stoner crashed three laps from the end and claimed his first victory. He ended the season 11th with 79 points.

In 2005, under the Nocable.it Race banner, Simoncelli qualified first and won the opening race at Jerez for a second successive win there. Despite no further victories, he finished on the podium five more times, accumulating 177 points and fifth place in the final standings.

Simoncelli moved to the 250cc class in 2006 with the Metis Gilera team, joining the Italian manufacturer on its return to the intermediate class after a lengthy absence. His best result in that first season was sixth at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai; he finished tenth overall, losing the Rookie of the Year title to Shuhei Aoyama by seven points. He remained with the team in 2007, again finishing tenth without a podium finish.

In 2008, Simoncelli secured his first 250cc victory at the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello on 1 June, winning by three seconds. He followed this with victory at the Catalan Grand Prix, overtaking Álvaro Bautista on the final lap, and at the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring on 13 July, beating Bautista and Héctor Barberá by approximately 2.5 seconds. He also won at the 2008 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, narrowly defeating Bautista. On 19 October 2008, Simoncelli clinched the 250cc World Championship by finishing third in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.

Simoncelli made a one-off appearance for Aprilia at the Superbike World Championship round at Imola in 2009. He qualified on the second row, crashed out of race one at Tosa while running fifth, then fought through to third in race two, making a forceful move to overtake teammate Max Biaggi.

On 25 June 2009, it was confirmed that Simoncelli would join the San Carlo Gresini Honda team for the 2010 MotoGP season.

In 2010, after two pre-season testing crashes at Sepang, Simoncelli finished 16 of 18 races in the points, ending eighth in the championship with 125 points. His best result was fourth in Portugal, missing a podium by 0.06 seconds to Andrea Dovizioso.

For 2011, Simoncelli was promoted to a factory Honda within the Gresini team, while Hiroshi Aoyama rode a satellite Honda. He finished fifth in the season opener in Qatar. At the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, a collision with Dani Pedrosa while battling for second caused Pedrosa to break his collarbone; Simoncelli received a ride-through penalty and finished fifth. He initially rejected blame for the collision, then accepted he needed to reflect on his riding style and was required to meet with race direction before the Catalan race weekend. At Catalonia he secured his first MotoGP pole position, 0.016 seconds ahead of Casey Stoner, but finished sixth after a poor start. He earned his first MotoGP podium — third — in the Czech Republic, and his career-best MotoGP result was second at Phillip Island in Australia.

On 23 October 2011, during the second lap of the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, Simoncelli's bike lost traction at Turn 11 and began to slide toward the gravel; when the tyres regained traction, the bike suddenly veered across the track into the path of Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi, who were unable to avoid a collision. Simoncelli lost his helmet and sustained serious trauma to the head, neck and chest. CPR was administered for 45 minutes; he was declared dead at 16:56 local time. The race was immediately red-flagged. Edwards suffered a dislocated shoulder. Simoncelli's body was flown to Italy accompanied by his father Paolo, his fiancée Kate Fretti, and Valentino Rossi. An estimated 20,000 people attended his funeral at the Santa Maria Assunta parish church in Coriano on 27 October 2011.

Valentino Rossi cited Simoncelli's death as the catalyst for creating the VR46 racing academy to mentor Italian riders. Rossi described Simoncelli as "the first rider of the Academy, even if the Academy didn't exist." Pecco Bagnaia, Franco Morbidelli, Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi are among VR46 academy graduates.

On 3 November 2011, the Misano World Circuit announced plans to rename itself in Simoncelli's honour, which it did in 2012. At the final Grand Prix of 2011 in Valencia, a tribute lap involving riders from all three Grand Prix classes was held, with 1993 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz riding Simoncelli's bike.

On 8 September 2016, Simoncelli's racing number 58 was officially retired from all classes of Grand Prix racing competition. The ceremony was led by Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, who stated: "Today we say to Marco's father, Paolo, that from now this number belongs to the Simoncelli family."

In 2013, Simoncelli's father Paolo founded Sic58 Squadra Corse in his honour, a team created to develop young Italian riders in the lower levels of Grand Prix racing. The team began in Italian Moto3, moved to the FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship in 2015, and entered the FIM Moto3 World Championship in 2017.

Simoncelli was posthumously inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2014, becoming the 21st MotoGP Legend; the ceremony took place at the Italian round at Mugello.

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