September 8, 2010
MotoGP - Sayonara Tomizawa, rest in peace
The world of motor sports mourns the 19-year-old Japanese rider who lost his life product of a tragic accident in San Marino.
By Andrew Hill
For the second weekend in a row the motor racing tracks have been tainted with pain and grief, because of two unfortunate happenings that have brought back the focus of attention to the safety regulations. On August 29th, the 13-year-old rider Peter Lenz lost his life at the Indianapolis Grand Prix, and without even having time to digest this shocking event, one week later in San Marino, Shoya Tomizawa from team Technomag-CIP died after a tragic accident.
To track down the last casualty in a MotoGP circuit, we have to go back to 2003, when Tomizawa’s fellow countryman, Daijiro Kato, died in Sukana’s Grand Prix, who by those forces of fate happened to be his hometown. The racing number 74 tattooed on Tomizawa’s left shoulder was no mistake, but a tribute to honor the memory of Kato. Ever since, this racing track has not been back on the circuit, since the entire fault was blamed on it.
This year had started pretty good for Tomizawa, winning his first Moto2 race ever, at Losail International Circuit in Doha, Qatar. His performance in comparison to last year’s had suffered an impressive progression, as he managed to improve from the 17th position that he ended 2009 with, to the 7th place that he was occupying before the fatal accident where he fall from his motorbike, and was immediately impacted by Scott Redding and Alex de Angelis.
At such high speeds, around 240kph, not only the chances to survive a crash are significantly decreased, but the chances to maneuver for those riders coming so closed together are also reduced to the minimum. The outcome of an accident of this magnitude lies upon the miracle that the helmet, knee-blocks, and back protectors can do. The tarmac and grass areas may contribute to prevent accidents, but none of them can guarantee that the race track is exempt of accidents.
“Without fear they ride with too much confidence, and things like this can happen”
This accident should serve as a reminder for the riders that no matter how many improvements are done to ensure their safety, their occupation is still a very dangerous one, and more than losing a race, they could lose their lives. Former MotoGP champion Casey Stoner referred to this issue, and feels that “riders become too confident and without fear they ride with too much confidence, and things like this can happen”.
For rider Alex Debon, the MotoGP race should have been suspended that day, since the organizers knew about the delicate health condition of Tomizawa. He feels that the interests of the organizers are always placed above “the life of a person”. The MotoGP riders evidenced how affected they were with this sad event, as no celebrations were seen in the podium.
MotoGP’s security delegate Franco Uncini thinks that at this time the technology with which they count makes it “very difficult to solve this problem”. He also said that they are working on this issue in order to decrease the damage in the near future, although they don’t have a solution as of right now.
About the Author
Andrew Hill has been a prominent writer on daily sports news and the sportsbetting industry for many exceptional sport web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.