Ciao Super Sic

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.

After that horrible incident the race was suddenly stopped. The circuit grew very quiet compared to the roaring sounds of machines before and so for a while we were left wondering.  I remembered wanting so bad to hear those crazy noises again to be sure that everything was ok, and the race could be resumed shortly. In addition to that, I was worried-sick of missing our flight, because when we booked it, we thought the race would start 3 hours earlier that it actually did.

Well, we waited a bit more but still no signs of resuming the race. Since we could not afford to wait any longer, we decided to just leave, along with thousands of other people, who, completely oblivious to how serious the accident was, chattered happily in the shuttle bus to the parking lot. And few hours afterwards, in the hustle bustle of checking in, grudging at the delay, boarding on the plane, I lost track of the updated news.  Only shortly after I safely landed in Jakarta and turned on my cellphones I learned about Simoncelli’s death. It gave me chills to the bone, thinking that as we were exiting the gate, he was given CPR but could not make it.

And as I was sitting in the airport shuttle bus, gripping the Italian flag, and thinking about Simoncelli, I felt a rush of sadness in my heart. Seeing someone badly injured on TV during a race is bad enough, but knowing that someone (so young and great, with a promising career too) lost his life on the lane not far from where I was sitting is horrendous.

I guess I will never forget my first experience watching a race in a circuit. Sadly, not in a way that anyone could wish, though.

Ciao Super sic… Kami akan selalu mengenangmu dengan segala tingkah lakumu yang unik, senyumanmu yang selalu mengembang lebar seumpama rambut keritingmu yang mengembang, Rest In Peace, we will miss you as always……