Marco Bezzecchi
Marco Simoncelli was one of the most exciting talents in motorcycle racing when he tragically lost his life in 2011. A 250cc world champion, he made an impressive start in the premier class.
Gresini-Honda rider Simoncelli finished eighth in his rookie season and scored his first podiums in year two. But just a week after a career-best P2 at the Australian GP, he was killed in an accident in Malaysia.
MotoGP subsequently retired the number 58 as a mark of respect. The Misano circuit in Emilia Romagna was also renamed in his honour.
Reflecting many years later, close friend Valentino Rossi said Simoncelli could have fought for the championship in 2012, such was his talent. Honda won both the teams’ and constructors’ championships that year.
Jorge Lorenzo compares Marco Simoncelli to ‘Mario Kart’ character Donkey Kong
Speaking on the Mig Babol podcast recently, Jorge Lorenzo reflected fondly on his battles with Simoncelli. Lorenzo raced against him in both of his title-winning seasons at 250cc level.
He arrived in MotoGP a couple of years earlier, but a rivalry started to develop when Simoncelli reached the top level. They clashed in public as Lorenzo voiced his opposition to the Italian’s riding style.
The three-time world champion told Andrea Migno that Simoncelli was like ‘Mario Kart’ character Donkey Kong, not afraid to ‘use his body’ to intimidate his opponents. They took to the track with opposite philosophies.
“He was the hardest to fight,” said Lorenzo. “He was big, he never held back. He would use his body to push you out of the way. It was like the gorilla in Mario Kart, who was too strong. When he hit you, he would push you out.
“Personally, we never had much connection, even though we started the world championship in the same year, and our careers were more or less progressively the same in the category jumps. Maybe I moved to MotoGP a little earlier.
“I was a rider who became very correct and clean. I didn’t like taking unnecessary risks when I was fighting other riders. I didn’t want the riders to be too aggressive with me.
“In that era of MotoGP, he was the most aggressive. He also complained about me publicly. In 2011, there was a lot of tension.”
Jorge Lorenzo reveals the state of his relationship with Valentino Rossi after MotoGP rivalry
Lorenzo looked back on some of his most memorable duels in the podcast. He took pride in pointing out that he was the only rider who beat the other members of the ‘Fantastic Five’.
That was a group that also included Rossi, Marc Marquez, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa. They have won 18 MotoGP titles between them.
Lorenzo was in awe of Stoner, particularly his ability to set a scintillating pace straight out of the box in practice. He immediately found the limit as others built up to it slowly.
But the defining story of his career was the intra-team competition at Yamaha. While there was ‘total tension’ between Rossi and Lorenzo when they raced together, they now have a ‘cordial relationship’.
Receive racing news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
