.....especially Colin Edwards and his very close friend Valentino Rossi, who were unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time and struck him as he was sliding back across the track.
Exactly. It
appears (seen from another camera angle) as if it was Vale's hit that actually took off Simo's helmet.... and, quite possibly, was the main contributor to Simo's demise.
...
From what I saw, Edwards was cornering to the right, Rossi a little behind and to Haydon's right.
I couldn't see why Marco went down, in the camera shot I saw, he swept in from left to right, already on his side, it looked as if his right leg was trapped under the bike.
He slid right under Edward's front wheel, Edwards could neither see him coming, couldn't have had time to react, and couldn't do anything anyway.
From what I saw it was Edwards' front wheel that hit Simoncelli, probably in the head (makes me shudder to think of it), I currently think that's what took Simoncelli's helmet off.
Edwards tumbled off, Rossi caught Edward's bike a glancing blow, but Rossi didn't directly affect Simoncelli.
Rossi's bike tried to throw him, but he held it, albeit on the grass off the right side of the track. I'm not sure Rossi even knew why Edwards had gone down.
I still don't know why Simoncelli went down in the first place. I couldn't see any other rider involved, but it did look like a genuine accident.
A sad loss.
