Following Marco Simoncelli’s tragic death, many Italian fans have requested that Simoncelli’s racing #58 be retired from MotoGP racing and the President of the Italian Motorcycle Federation, Paolo Sesti has taken up the cause, writing the following letter to Dorna: “As we prepare for the final and sad event with Marco Simoncelli, on the occasion of his funeral tomorrow, we believe it is necessary to find the easiest way to remember a rider who animated the paddock of the MotoGP World Championship with his talent, speed and his very special personality.
A rider and a person that will be missed forever!Therefore, the Italian Motorcycle Federation asks Dorna to retire number “58″ from the premier racing class championship.
I am sure that Dorna can and will understand the deep meaning of this request, and we are therefore very confident that it will be accepted.
”MotoGP has already retired Daijiro Kato’s #74, Kevin Schwantz’ #34 and Shoya Tomizawa’s #48 from Moto2 racing.