At the San Marino GP today, MotoGP officially retired the use of #58, giving honor to Marco Simoncelli, who died almost five years ago while racing in the Malaysian GP at Sepang.
Of course, this weekend’s stop on the MotoGP Championship calendar actually takes place at the Misano World Circuit, which changed its official name to the the “Misano World Circuit – Marco Simoncelli” in order to honor the fallen racer.
This makes the San Marino GP a fitting venue for Simoncelli’s number to be retired, and of course the weekend’s events take place in front of a home crowd, with Simoncelli born just a few miles away on the coast, in Cattolica.
Readers should note that today’s news is another honor for SuperSic given by Dorna, as Marco Simoncelli has already been named a “MotoGP Legend” two years ago, at the Italian GP in Mugello.
This is because the grief in the MotoGP paddock over the loss of Marco Simoncelli is still fairly palpable, the loss being still very much in the collective consciousness – especially amongst the Italian contingency.
With 14 wins in Grand Prix racing, Marco Simoncelli won the 2008 250GP Championship, and was also a two-time podium finisher in the MotoGP Championship.
Source: MotoGP
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