RIP Marco Simoncelli

Motorsport has been hit by its second tragedy in less than a week with the passing of Italian MotoGP rider, Marco Simoncelli.

Here is more from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motogp/15420069.stm.

I've watched a bit of motorcycle racing and quite enjoy the slipstreaming and overtaking action. I haven't really watched it in the last few years as Sky didn't have the rights to the MotoGP for a while and there's always another sport on to watch.

Nevertheless, despite safety advances, motorcycle racing is still highly dangerous - even more so than car racing given that the bikes go at tremendous speeds and the riders are less protected than the drivers.

At Suzuka in 2003, MotoGP lost young upstart and former 125cc World Champion, Dajiro Kato as a result of an accident during the first race of the season. The race was not stopped at the time - something I'm glad officials have learnt is not the right thing to do in the circumstances. Kato died two weeks later from his injuries.

As I said with Dan Wheldon's accident, motorsport is a highly dangerous sport and the participants know of the risks involved. But as most petrolheads would know, there is such an adrenaline rush when racing these machines at high speeds. Denying someone that joy would be a bigger crime against humanity.

At least Simoncelli died doing what he loved to do: racing motorbikes on a Sunday. RIP.