Lüthi victory marred by fatal accident
Swiss motorcyclist Tom Lüthi won his first race in over five years on Sunday, but his victory was overshadowed by the death of Marco Simoncelli just two hours later.
Lüthi came first in the Moto2 category at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. He beat Stefan Bradl of Germany by 0.187 seconds.
He stands fifth in the overall world championship rankings, with only one race to go. At 151 points, he is 123 points behind Bradl, who tops the list.
But joy in Lüthi’s team turned to grief after the spectacular accident which killed the Italian Simoncelli, who fell on a bend and was hit by the two following riders.
“We were so happy, until we got the terrible news,” said Lüthi’s manager Daniel Epp, quoted in the German-language Blick newspaper.
“The whole of the riders’ camp is sad and in shock.”
It was not the first time a Lüthi success has been overshadowed by tragedy. In September 2010 he took third place in the San Marino Grand Prix, in which Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa fell and was hit and killed by the two following bikes.
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