So 2011 season ends today - thank god. What was arguably the worst season for MotoGP since its inception in 1949. This season will be remembered for the death of Marco Simoncelli "Super Sic" at Sepang and nothing else. MotoGP losts one of its most charismatic and exciting riders, the biggest personality in the paddock bar his great friend and mentor Valentino Rossi. His death is tragic on so many fronts, the talent he undoubtely was (he was surely a future world champion), the character and fun he brought to the paddock, press conferences, interviews, live appearences etc.
There is no doubt the charisma of Rossi has brought MotoGP to an audience that would never have watched , Nicky Hayden once noted that riders get paid what they do thanks to Rossi and his magnetic personality, and Marco was indeed progressing in his mentors footsteps, growing a huge fan base and fast becoming the peoples champion.
I was in Silverstone on an extremely wet sunday where 2 weeks after his collision with Dani Pedrosa at Le Man earned him the villian status in the paddock, he was cheered the loudest and most people were gasping when he lost the bike at turn 1 and crashed out. Silverstone was more suited to a dinghy that day then 800c prototype motorcycles. Many people crashed out that day but no one was as upset as when Sic binned it. This was not rhetoric this was real, I talked to fellow GP fans young and old. I can honestly say across the board everyone loved Marco.
MotoGP has many characters Rossi is the ringleader of course, Colin Edwards is always good for a joke, Dovizioso is fun, Crutchlow is fantastic, but the sport also has the quite non personalities. Its hard to imagine having allot of fun with Lorenzo, Stoner or Pedrosa.
It is in these special individuals that we connect and they put a smile on our face, clearly MotoGP is more than just racing, we have our favourites on the track of course but it is off the track in interviews, appearances etc. that we learn to really like the individuals or not as the case may be.
There was no standout race for me this season Stoner was in a different postcode for most races, too many injuries (Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Spies, Hayden) and too much bad weather to make it an interesting season. The Bautista mashup on turn 1 at Valencia where he took out DePuniet, Rossi and Hayden summed it up - end it here and move on.
So to 2012, we are back on 1ooocc bikes they sound better, have more torque and speed. Dovi is on a Yamaha, Bautista is on Gresini Honda, who knows if Suzuki will enter a bike. Rossi will not know where he is until February, his GP12 will not be finalised till then.
2012 will be a better season, it can't be much worse. Ciao Marco #Smileforsic
