Members of Italian motorcycle club, the Vespa Club di Morciano di Romagna, will ride over 1000 miles from Northern Italy to Silverstone in honour of the late Marco Simoncelli. The 14 vintage Vespas will set off from Marco's home province of Rimini on Friday before arriving in the United Kingdom in time for next weekend's British Grand Prix.
The riders will bring with them a replica helmet donated by Marco's father Paolo which will be auctioned at the Riders For Health auction with all proceeds going to the Marco Simoncelli Foundation. The replica has been signed by Drudi Performance designer Davide Degli Innocenti and presented to Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta upon arrival. A portrait of Marco and a sweatshirt designed by family friend Aldo Drudi will also be part of the auction.
The week-long ride will cover 1958km will pass through Germany, as well as the Belgian capital of Brussels and the initiative can be followed in real time at www.facebook.com/RoadToLondonForSic.
“MotoGP without Sic is like coming to Romagna and not eating a piadina!” said a member of the Vespa Club di Morciano di Romagna. “We shall honour in a simple fashion the name of one of the most genuine Romagna representatives of all time. We don't know what the journey will be like yet, but I am sure that we will scream 'THIS IS AMAZING!” once we arrive at our destination. We are honoured and proud to be organising this intiative and spreading the word about the foundation and its charity efforts to an international audience in Marco's name.”
Sunday also saw the TV premiere on British Eurosport of the Marco Simoncelli tribute single by The Rainband, the video of which was shot in Marco's hometown of Coriano and can be viewed here. The song, entitled “Rise Again” also features James Toseland on piano and will be officially released on iTunes and other providers on June 17th. As with the auction items, all proceeds from the song will go to the Marco Simoncelli foundation.