Everything this weekend was overshadowed by the tragic death of San Gresini Honda rider Marco Simoncelli in the Malaysian GP.
It was on the second lap of the race, while battling over fourth place, that Simoncelli lost the front end of his bike. He slid across the track into the path of the riders behind and was hit.
He sustained critical injuries and the race was stopped immediately while Simoncelli was transported by ambulance to the circuit medical centre. The medical staff worked to resuscitate him but at 4:56pm local time he sadly succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
Simoncelli had established himself as one of the bright and exciting new stars in MotoGP this season. The former 125cc and 250cc World Champion was competitive already in his first season of MotoGP in 2010. This season on the factory-spec Honda he mixed it with the frontrunners from the start. He achieved a career best second place just a week ago in the Australian GP.
Marco Simoncelli became 24 years old. He will be missed by everyone involved in MotoGP. Öhlins wish to convey our deepest heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Marco Simoncelli and to everyone at the San Carlo Honda Gresini Team.