1. Marco Simoncelli competed in the MotoGP World Championship for 10 years from 2002 to 2011.
41 Facts About Marco Simoncelli
1. 2.
Marco Simoncelli started in the 125cc class before moving up to the 250cc class in 2006.
3.
Marco Simoncelli won the 2008 250cc World Championship with Gilera.
4.
Marco Simoncelli died in an accident at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.
5.
Marco Simoncelli was born in Cattolica but grew up and lived in Coriano with his family since childhood.
6.
Marco Simoncelli started racing minibikes at the age of seven in his hometown of Coriano, moving on to the Italian Minimoto Championship in 1996 at the early age of nine.
7.
Marco Simoncelli won the Italian Minimoto Championship in 1999 and 2000 while became the runner-up in the 2000 European Minimoto Championship.
8.
Marco Simoncelli continued with the Matteoni Racing Team for his first full season in 2003.
9.
Marco Simoncelli managed to score points in six races with a best result of fourth at Valencia, the last race of the season.
10.
Marco Simoncelli managed to score points in seven other races with a best result of sixth.
11.
Marco Simoncelli ended in 11th place in the final standings with 79 points.
12.
Marco Simoncelli continued to ride for WorldwideRace in 2005, this time under the Nocable.
13.
Marco Simoncelli's consistency earned him 177 points and a fifth place in the final standings.
14.
In 2006, Marco Simoncelli stepped up to the 250cc class, becoming the only rider from the top eight in previous year's 125cc class to make the step up.
15.
Marco Simoncelli joined the Metis Gilera team, an Italian motorcycle manufacturer who returned to the intermediate class after a lengthy absence.
16.
Marco Simoncelli fought for the "Rookie of the Year" title until the end, finally losing to Shuhei Aoyama by seven points, finishing 10th overall.
17.
Marco Simoncelli's season was similar to the previous one and he was again 10th in the final standings, without a podium finish.
18.
Marco Simoncelli had his first 250cc win at the Italian Grand Prix held at Mugello on 1 June 2008 Barbera then crashed into him and Simoncelli won the race by 3 seconds.
19.
Marco Simoncelli obtained his third 250cc GP victory at the Sachsenring in the German Grand Prix on 13 July 2008 when he beat Bautista and Barbera by approximately 2.5 seconds.
20.
Marco Simoncelli made a one-off appearance for Aprilia in the World Superbike round at Imola in 2009.
21.
On 25 June 2009, it was confirmed that Marco Simoncelli would move up to premier class racing for 2010 MotoGP championship after agreeing to ride with the San Carlo Gresini Honda team.
22.
Marco Simoncelli's best finish was a fourth place in Portugal, missing a podium by 0.06 seconds to Andrea Dovizioso.
23.
Marco Simoncelli was predicted to be the surprise package of the season.
24.
Marco Simoncelli finished fifth in the season opening race in Qatar, before falling from the lead of the wet race at Jerez.
25.
Marco Simoncelli secured his highest starting position to that point of second, before falling on the first lap of the Estoril race.
26.
The resulting crash saw Pedrosa break his collarbone and Marco Simoncelli received a ride-through penalty, eventually finishing fifth.
27.
Marco Simoncelli initially rejected blame for the crash, claiming he braked no later than normal, and that he left Pedrosa room.
28.
Marco Simoncelli was required to meet with race direction before the start of the racing weekend at Catalonia.
29.
Marco Simoncelli earned his first podium in the premier class, with a third place in the Czech Republic.
30.
On 23 October 2011, Marco Simoncelli was involved in a collision with American rider Colin Edwards and fellow Italian Valentino Rossi during the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit.
31.
In fourth position during lap two, Marco Simoncelli's bike lost traction in Turn 11 and it started to slide towards the gravel, but the tires regained traction and his bike suddenly veered across the track into the path of Edwards and Rossi, with Marco Simoncelli hanging down on the right side; Edwards and Rossi were unable to prevent collision.
32.
Marco Simoncelli lost his helmet and Edwards was catapulted from his bike.
33.
Marco Simoncelli sustained serious trauma to the head, to the neck and the chest and was taken by ambulance to the circuit's medical centre.
34.
Marco Simoncelli was administered CPR for 45 minutes, but at 16:56 local time, less than an hour after the accident, it was announced that he had died from his injuries.
35.
Marco Simoncelli's body was flown home to Italy, accompanied by his father Paolo, his fiancee Kate Fretti, and Valentino Rossi.
36.
MotoGP riders Pecco Bagnaia, Franco Morbidelli, Luca Marini and Marco Simoncelli Bezzecchi are VR46 academy graduates.
37.
At the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix, Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, along with other members of the team paid tribute to Marco Simoncelli by returning to turn 11 and having a group photo with a banner in remembrance.
38.
In 2013, his father Paolo Simoncelli announced the formation of Sic58 Squadra Corse in honor of Marco.
39.
On 23 October 2013, AC Milan paid a tribute to Marco Simoncelli by posting on their Google+ profile, a photo of their jersey in their dressing room with Marco Simoncelli's name on the back.
40.
On 3 February 2014, it was announced that Marco Simoncelli would be posthumously inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame and become the 21st MotoGP Legend.
41.
On 8 September 2016, it was announced that Marco Simoncelli's racing number 58 would be retired from all classes of Grand Prix racing competition.