The kid definitely had it. Damn shame. Gone @ 19.

















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtdgJ...eature=related


Second Tragedy In Two Weeks: Shoya Tomizawa Killed In Misano Moto2 Race


Tragedy has struck the motorcycle racing community for the second time in 8 days. Technomag CIP rider Shoya Tomizawa died in hospital of injuries sustained in a crash during the Moto2 race at Misano.



The crash happened on lap 12 of the 26 lap race. Tomizawa lost the rear while pushing hard through turn 11, falling in front of Alex de Angelis and Scott Redding. Neither rider could avoid the fallen Tomizawa, striking him hard at the fastest part of the track. Both men also fell, De Angelis escaping uninjured, while Redding suffered injuries to his hips. Because he was struck by two bikes, Tomizawa suffered blunt force trauma to the cranium, thorax and abdomen.
Tomizawa was taken straight from the track to the Hospital of Riccione, but the 19-year-old Japanese rider was suffering from severe cardiac instability, and Tomizawa eventually died of heart failure.


Shoya Tomizawa was currently in 7th place in the championship standings, having got the season off to a good start by winning the very first Moto2 race at Qatar in April. Since then, Tomizawa had been a consistent force in Moto2, scoring 2nd in Jerez and constantly challenging at the front. Tomizawa first rode in Grand Prix as a wildcard rider in 125s, and after finishing 14th in the 2008 Japanese 250cc Grand Prix, the Technomag team offered him a full time ride on a 250 for 2009, keeping the rider for the inaugural Moto2 season this year.


Tomizawa's death is the second in two weeks at a Grand Prix event, last weekend's Indianapolis Grand Prix having seen the death of the bright young talent Peter Lenz, a 13-year-old from Vancouver, Washington, during a support race. The two deaths bear remarkable similarities, both being caused after the riders were struck by other bikes after crashing. Modern motorcycle track safety is at a very high level indeed, but this is the one type of incident that cannot be avoided, nor the danger removed.


The previous death in Grand Prix racing was another Japanese rider, Daijiro Katoh, who died after crashing at Suzuka in 2003. In a twist of bitter irony, the street outside the Misano circuit is named after Katoh.

 

Rip

 

tragedy always comes in threes unfortunately. The road racing deaths, lenz, now this...my condolences to all their loved ones.

 

Dammit

 

Horrible. What I don't understand is the gruesome need to post up the actual footage. Does anyone really need to see that? Can you imagine if you actual knew him personally or, god forbid, were a family member that had to see that?

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm going to try and explain the importance of seeing pictures and footage of crashes from a rider's perspective. If you don't ride yourself, the point may be lost on you. I apologize in advance if that happens.

The sport is so closely knit that when a tragedy like this happens, fellow riders/racers nearly always want to see and learn as much as possible about the crash.

The appeal does not stem from the need to be entertained, or the desire to be apart of something glamorous. Rather, there's an obligation to review and decide whether or not there is a need to act.

When a rider watches a "grousome" crash, we are looking past the gore of a lifeless body. We're looking at the line that was chosen, what upset the chassis, and any other contributing factor to why the crash occurred. We process this and replay it in our heads over and over until a lesson is learned. This then becomes a valuable tool in our skill set to ride safer and survive longer. Every rider does it. Some do it without even being aware of it.

Then there's the moral obligation as a rider to review the crash and see if it was avoidable. Is the track unsafe to ride? Did the marshals respond appropriately? Should the sanctioning body be questioned and reviewed? It's hard to explain, but you always have this unfinished obligatory feeling until you see what happened for yourself.

This crash was no exception. The race wasn't even red flagged. Shoya was essentially tossed onto the stretcher to get him off of the track as soon as possible. What that did to his already sustained injuries we'll never know.

Hope that helps.

 

Very well said SAB... RIP Shoya

 

Fair enough. You are correct. I don't ride. I never will. Seen too much in my line of work. But I'll never begrudge anyone for doing so. Still uneasy about the video. But I suppose the reasoning is sound. I just won't watch the vid.

 

Thanks to both SAB and bonehead. As a serious car driver and motorbike rider I appreciate the dangers and acceptance of my choices. SAB get's the desire to ride, bone chooses to avoid the risk due to the possible ramifications. I was at Road America watching two close friends race with the Midwest PCA in Cup and DE's this weekend risking crashing and the danger involved. I am getting up early tomorrow to ride my Ducati all day. The footage makes me cringe, however it makes me also makes me realize the risk of my choices both on a track or on the street in a car or on the bike.

I hope that Shoya's family and friends understand he passed doing something that he loved and had a unstoppable desire to do. bonehead, I would suggest you purchase the DVD Faster. It will probably cost you $25 American and will make you understand and appreciate that all GP riders know and understand the risk of their career. It also explains why they choose to ride a motorbike at 215 miles an hour knowing that a crash or three a season is inevitable. It has made several of my friends diehard MotoGP fans. It is brilliant!

There are literally hundreds of crashes in any given season of GP, Moto 2, and AMA races. This is a rare, and tragic, accident.

 

^^^+1,000,000,000. Faster & Faster is even better because it talks about the death of Daijiro and shares the thoughts of his fellow riders about the risks they know they take every time they mount their bike. Regardless of being on 2 wheels or 4 risk is risk, the common idea of enthusiasts is,"I'd rather die living" which is the case for Shoya. Nobody want's to die but you can't let that stop you from living, i'd bet $ that Shoya lived more in his 19 years than most people twice his age. RIP Shoya.