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I have just landed in Manchester having spent two seven-hour flights wondering how I could ever possibly begin this blog that I have been asked to write. During that time I came up with nothing.

All I can say is that this is not an objective piece of journalism. This is not an obituary. These are my thoughts.

There can be scant higher praise to bestow on Marco Simoncelli than saying that he was the most exciting thing to happen to motorcycle racing since Valentino Rossi.

As outrageous on the track as he was off it, his wild afro hairstyle and swashbuckling riding style won the hearts of fans all over the world. His death has brought us all to our knees.

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There was a time when a first-lap crash from would have been the biggest talking point of any Grand Prix weekend but the fact his latest misdemeanour - at Motegi last Sunday - has been all but buried under the debris of the post-race aftermath says as much about the ignominy of his first season with Ducati as it does about the drama of a remarkably eventful .

Of the 18 riders who started the race (with Karel Abraham not even making the grid due to concussion) only 13 made it to the chequered flag and of those riders only seven avoided an off-track excursion of some kind, be it through the pit-lane or across the gravel.

It was an exciting one to watch from pit-lane and the drama continued long into the night as explanations were given and fingers pointed in the riders' post-race debriefs, with Rossi citing a mistake from as the reason for his first "DNF" of the year.

"Lorenzo went onto the grass slightly in turn one, and in the next turn he moved suddenly to get his trajectory right," explained Rossi. "He didn't see me because I was slightly behind. When he touched me, it pushed me into [Ben] Spies, who touched my front brake lever. It was normal racing contact, but I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

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