Misano circuit to be renamed after Marco Simoncelli

The Misano circuit in Italy is to be renamed in honour of the late Marco Simoncelli.

Luca Colaiacovo, president of the circuit's board of directors, said that the renaming of the track, currently know as Misano World Circuit, was a fitting tribute to Simoncelli, who grew up and lived in nearby Coriano.

"We owe it to Sic's memory, to his family, to the hundreds of thousands of fans that admired his courage and humanity, to the many sports and media personalities that led this spontaneous and touching people's movement," he announced in a statement.

"We are therefore happy and proud to associate the Misano structure to Marco Simoncelli, a world-beater in sport and life.

"In the next hours I will meet the family in order to announce our decision and to thank them for both their helpfulness towards us and for the love they've been able to communicate to all of us at this terrible time. I will tell them that Marco will carry on being with us forever, also thanks to the initiatives that together we'll assume over the upcoming months.

"In fact today sees the start of a work that will have to turn the decision taken into concrete initiatives: a task we want to carry out together with the Simoncelli family and the newly born Foundation created in the name of the rider. We want this task to be as widely participated as possible through the involvement of fan clubs and followers."

Colaiacovo added that Santa Monica SpA, the company that manages the track, does not intend to use Simoncelli's name for any potential commercial benefits in the future.