Simoncelli Crash Video: Tragic Wreck Is Proof Racing Officials Must Be Proactive

Everyone involved in the world of racing needs to do some serious thinking.

After the tragic death of 24-year-old Marco Simoncelli in a MotoGP crash in Malaysia, changes need to be made.

I know the danger of racing MotoGP or Indy is part of the appeal, but this is getting out of hand.

The IndyCar world is still in shock over the death of Dan Wheldon, and last year, Japanese teenager Shoya Tomizawa died after crashing in a Moto2 race at San Marino. That was the first death since the circuit opened in 1999.

With two in one year, clearly something needs to be altered. Yet Sepang circuit chairman Mokhzani Mahathir claims this was just another fluke occurrence:

"We had our standard operating procedure...this is one-of-a-kind freak incident where the helmet came off and I am sure (motorcycling body) FIM and MotoGP will be looking into this."

The reason of Simoncelli’s death was due to the heavy traffic that was currently on the track. He leaned into a turn just a tad too hard and didn’t have any space to fall. There were too many bikes in the vicinity, and Simoncelli ended up paying the ultimate price.

While it wasn’t as congested as the Indy Series at Las Vegas, there were still too many bikes on the course. Maybe some more precautions when it comes to maintaining the track need to be in order.

Regardless of what they end up doing, they need to be more forward thinking in their adjustments. They need to stop letting tragedies like this one take place before making some sort of change. Two deaths in two years isn’t a fluke.

Being proactive may not have saved Simoncelli on Sunday, but it can save somebody else.

Let’s hope officials take a long look at this incident and figure out how we can make the sport safer.