Sepang - AFP
The post-mortem report for Italian rider Marco Simoncelli, who died in a crash at last year's Malaysian MotoGP, has been completed and sent to his family, a race official said Wednesday. Ahmad Razlan Ahmad Razali, chief executive officer of the Sepang International Circuit where Simoncelli died in October 2011, told AFP the report was passed to his family and he did not know its conclusions. Speaking on sidelines on day two of a three-day MotoGP testing session, he said the report on Simoncelli, the flamboyant 2008 Moto2 world champion considered an up and coming MotoGp star, was handed to his family in January. "It came out a few weeks ago, in January. I didn't want to have a look, I had the opportunity to have a look but I didn't think it was right so we forwarded it to the family," he said. The crash occurred soon after the race began when the 24-year-old Honda rider's bike veered across the track and into the path of riders Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi, who appeared to have hit him. Simoncelli had his helmet knocked off in the ensuing collision, which occurred on turn 11. Officials at the time said Simoncelli died from head, neck and chest injuries from the accident but there has been no official explanation as to what caused the crash and death. Ahmad Razlan said the teams remained confident over the circuit's safety and riders were well aware of the dangers of their sport. "Sepang circuit is considered one of the safest in the world," he said. "I think for the professional riders, specifically MotoGP riders, death or a tragic accident is something that is always on their mind, they may not talk about it but they know the dangers," he added. "Just because there is an accident in the circuit doesn't mean they won't come back, its part of the risk they take for a sport that they love." Yamaha rider Ben Spies led the timesheet at 2 minutes 1.285 seconds as heavy rain caused a pause in the testing Wednesday. Fellow rider Jorge Lorenzo, who came in second at 2 minutes 1.293 seconds, said the Malaysian track was "slippery" as a result of the circuit being used by cars a few days before. Multiple world champion Valentino Rossi, who finished at 2 minutes 2.130 seconds, said the track was better than Tuesday when it was "very dirty." Ahmad Razlan said that they had not received any official complaints about the condition of the track from the International Road Racing Teams Association. Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa were forced to miss the testing Wednesday as they waited for a report on Pedrosa's engine, which had caused problems on Tuesday. Testing ends Thursday and is followed by a final three-day session at the Jerez circuit in Spain beginning March 23. The season officially starts April 8 in Qatar.