Baru hari ini saya bisa menulis segala luapan emosi dan perasaan, rasa kaget, tidak percaya dan segala macam rasa yang berkecamuk dalam dada ketika minggu sore menyaksikan siaran motogp melalui layar televisi.
Sosok yang selalu memberi warna disetiap sirkuit motogp, yang gila namun menawan ternyata adalah saat terakhirnya disana, segala mimpi dan ambisinya berakhir di lap kedua di sirkuit Sepang, tetangga kita Malaysia.
Selama naik kelas ke motogp saya tidak terlalu mengikuti perkembangan dan pasang surut karir Simoncelli berbeda sewaktu dia masih di kelas 250 cc, saya begitu mengidolakan dia dengan rambut super keritingnya dan nyali yang begitu besar serta semangat pantang menyerahnya di setiap balapan.
Hummmffff, tapi semuanya kini telah berakhir terkubur bersama jasadnya.
Berikut ini adalah cerita seorang teman saya yang menyaksikan langsung motogp di Sepang hari minggu kemarin, dari Jakarta bela belain terbang ke KL untuk menyaksikan race kali ini mendukung rider berkebangsaan Italia tentunya karena dia sangat mengenal negeri ini dengan baik. Namun apa, kecelkaan naas itu yang terjadi.
ON SEPANG AND SIMONCELLI
(from Tanti Susilawati’s note)
When I decided to come along with my brother to Sepang for the motogp race I had anticipated three things: crowd (indeed it was crowded..), heat (in fact it was scorching that I felt dehydrated all the time), and noise (to the deafening level that for the first time in my life I felt the urge to get some earplugs!), and maybe little crashes here and there that happen frequently in the race as part of the show, but then the racers would get back quickly on their feet to continue their pursuit of victory, or at the worst, drive their bikes grudgingly to the paddocks. But I did not expect death.
I’m not crazy about motogp and I only follow it every now and then, and little I knew about Marco Simoncelli until yesterday evening. Before that I had only two thoughts upon hearing his name. First, his outstanding frizzy hair that made me wonder how on earth did it all fit in his helmet (oh well, most of Italian racers have super curly hair anyway, but his was beautifully the craziest!). Second, his surname reminds me of my fave Italian lemon liqueur, limoncello, and that thought alone could make me cheerful.
I bought a big Italian flag right before entering the circuit with a hope that I would get a chance to wave it if one of the Italians got to stand in the podium at the end of the race, thinking and hoping that Valentino Rossi could probably win against all odds (the fact that he had to start from the 9th position). A day before I saw him fall on the qualification race, and I was amazed to see how someone riding a bike at that deadly pace could fall, and still managed to stand and continue to ride as if nothing had happened at all. And then I thought, he must’ve been well-protected with that outfit and helmet, and fortunate that no other racers were behind him when it happened. Simoncelli, sadly, did not have that fortune. The lane was crowded when he fell, and his helmet flew.
