ROME, Italy, November 1 – American Moto GP rider Colin Edwards insisted Tuesday there was nothing he could have done to get out of the way of Marco Simoncelli in the crash at Sepang that killed the Italian on October 23.
The 24-year-old Honda rider lost control and veered across the track into the path of Edwards and his fellow Italian Valentino Rossi minutes after the race at the Malaysian track began.
He suffered fatal head, neck and chest injuries.
“I have asked myself a thousand questions since the crash. What might have happened if I had reacted differently? Could I have done anything else? But I’ve watched the footage again and I know there is absolutely nothing I could have done to avoid Marco,” Edwards, who dislocated his shoulder in the incident, said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“And Valentino (Rossi) could do nothing either.
“It is hard to lose a friend. We lost a shining star. Marco was loved by all the supporters for his personality, his character, his charisma,” Edwards added.
Simoncelli’s death moved the Italian sporting world, and thousands of fans attended his funeral last Thursday in his hometown of Coriano, near Rimini.
