Ducati trucks with Marco Simoncelli's racing number

Ducati didn’t preview this weekend’s Valencia GP with the usual comments from Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, instead they had team manager Vittoriano Guareschi doing the talking, and the Italian team is paying tribute to Marco Simoncelli in their own personal way with this touching dedication on all their trucks – Sic nei ns cuori (Sic in our hearts).

Valentino Rossi will debut a special helmet design in memory of Simoncelli, while Andrea Dovizioso will have #58 close to his heart on his leathers and Loris Capirossi in his final MotoGP weekend before he retires, will be running his Pramac Ducati with #58 plate (he was wearing a black arm band with #58 at the pre-event press conference) and no doubt there’ll be other riders, especially the Italians who will have tribute helmets and Sic’s number on their leathers and bike liveries.

“The Valencia Grand Prix will have a different atmosphere than normal because we’ve been thinking about Marco since Malaysia.
He’ll be with us in Spain and beyond, but I think there will also be positive feelings in the paddock, because for Marco, racing equalled happiness, which is a concept that I understand very well,” said Guareschi.

Photo source davidebrivio@twitter.
com