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.
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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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Lüthi on motorcycle podium
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Lüthi was beaten by Toni Elias and Julian Simon of Spain. The crash in the 12th round involved the 19 year-old Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa who was being closely pursued by Scott Redding of Britain and Alex de Angelis of Italy. Tomizawa fell, hitting his head on the track, and was run over by the…
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Motorcycling journalist Bernard Jonzier tells swissinfo it’s a “historic” occasion for the Swiss. In 2005 Thomas Lüthi became the first Swiss rider to win a world champion title in more than two decades. But over the past few years the Bernese has struggled with injuries. He will have to show some progress this season if…
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In only his third season as a professional, “Little Lüthi” is the third Swiss rider to achieve this honour after Stefan Dörflinger and Luigi Taveri. Going into the Spanish race, the 19-year-old from canton Bern had amassed 235 points and a 23-point lead over his Finnish rival Mika Kallio. Kallio won in Valencia, but Lüthi’s…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.