Rest, Marco, Rest... | MC M.C.

Photo: Marco Morittu

Marco Simoncelli was as thoughtful off a MotoGP bike as he was ferocious on it. As it turns out, the 47th life claimed by Grand Prix motorcycle roadracing began in the coastal Italian town of Cattolica, in the same hospital that my youngest son, Chris, was born. Except there were no windows to open for fresh air back in January of 1987, so Marco didn't hear the minimoto bikes racing until midnight at the go-kart track outside the maternity ward. After learning of the connection, the 1999/2000 Italian Minimoto Champion was philosophical. "I think if I heard that all night while I was trying to sleep, maybe I wouldn't have gone to find the track to race there later on, when I grew up." That would have been a pity! -Alan Cathcart