A
m I the only one thinking
that Marco Simoncelli re-
membrance ceremonies
are getting a bit mawkish?
I'm not suggesting anyone
should forget the lovable (and,
admit it, rather scary) legend-in-
the-making, who died in Malay-
sia in 2011, almost three years
ago.
How can we forget? He
embodied so much that was
good about racing… a leonine
personality to match his roar-
ing laugh and giant mane. He
raced like a demon, and won a
World Championship, in trade-
mark courageous style. He will
be sadly missed and always re-
membered by his generation in
racing.
Perhaps I am way out of line
on this, but I wonder if it isn't
time he and his family were left
in peace.
Maybe these repeated and
orchestrated public displays are
a Latin thing that a northerner
like me is too cold-blooded to
understand. Perhaps his family
draw strength from how assidu-
ously his memory is kept alive,
over and over. If so, good.
But it was somehow sad
rather than uplifting to see his
father and mother brought out
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
THE SIMONCELLI EFFECT
P144
