Today during the penultimate round of the 2011 MotoGP season, Marco Simoncelli was involved in a fatal crash. Simoncelli lost control of his motorcycle, fell, and was hit by two MotoGP riders. Simoncelli was rushed to the infield medical center, but responders could not resuscitate the Gresini rider.
Simoncelli lost control of his motorcycle at turn 11, just four minutes into the race. Simoncelli's bike swerved from the outside of the track, to the inside, cutting infront of Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi.
The Italian lost his helmet in the crash and suffered serious head trauma. Colin Edwards suffered a dislocated shoulder in the crash. Valentino Rossi was unhurt.
Here is a video of the crash. (The video is tragic and may be disturbing for some viewers. Please keep that in mind before you decide to watch. Also, these videos will likely be removed from Dorna in the near future. Here is a link to a video from ESPN)
Marco Simoncelli is the first person to die since Daijiro Katoh passed away from injuries sustained during the 2003 Japanese GP. Shoya Tomizawa, a Moto2 rider, died last year at San Marino.
According to ESPN, there have been 47 MotoGP deaths since the racing series was founded in 1949.
