Macau, Saturday the 18th of November 2017, 3.30 pm, 7.30 am UK time. Thousands of eyes were glued to the screens to follow live the 51th edition of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix.
During the sixth lap, though, the red flags came out and the race was immediately stopped after a terrible crash at the 
infamous Fisherman’s Bend. The cameras lingered on the debris of the bike and on the rider laying on the track, without helmet and boot. Even a novice would have recognised him. Light blue leathers, black Honda.
At this point, in road racing an apparently absurd and hypocrite process happens, something deeply rooted and accepted in this culture. The name of the rider is barely whispered around the paddock while waiting for an official announcement. Unfortunately not everybody stick to this process. A real hunt for scoop raged on the web, a challenge for publishing (or posting, because it seems that now the “real journalism” is on Facebook) the news, the name, the horrific footage of the crash before everyone else. I even got a message from a well known Italian journalist asking me the name of the rider: I was there in Macau but the yearning of giving a non official but sensational news from Italy before everyone was clouding every form of respect.
And, while the video of the crash started to spread massively on YouTube, many websites were seizing it to make articles, at the service of our morbid desire of macabre. Personally, I have watched the videos of the crash on YouTube. They exist, why not watching them? They can be useful to understand. However, using them to make articles, to carry people on a website, to make sensationalism is a very different thing. This is not a press duty, a right to information. This is profiteering. This means being sharks.
RoadRacingCore, as the only Italian website entirely about road racing, didn’t show the video of Daniel Hegarty‘s crash in Macau and never will. As we do with any other videos of fatal crashes. Do we want to see them? No problem at all, we can watch them on YouTube. But we will never write an article including a link to a video like that. We don’t care about likes, visits, clicks.
Maybe someone should live road racing world more from the inside to understand this game. Just after Daniel’s crash, in a very agitated and surreal moment, I found myself watching helpless those unbelievable images on the screen in the paddock. Motionless, aware of having a camera focused on me but determined not to show any emotion. Even if riders were starting to come back in the pits around me, someone of them crying, someone getting sick. Mechanics were pushing cameras away, trying to hide the tragedy. Because everyone over there knew straight away it was a tragedy we were dealing with. Because that poor mum, that poor children, that poor girlfriend stuck on a live streaming on the other side of the world shouldn’t have seen that.
Dan Hegarty’s brother learnt the news of the death on Twitter, before any official confirmation was released. Our attention-seeking behaviour, our thirst for scoop, for macabre, can sometimes be so strong that we are not fully aware of what we are doing. Even if everybody knows, there could be someone else who needs to know in the right way and at the right time. Too often we don’t think and we don’t care about this.
Some riders were forced to finish their sixth lap in Macau; they weren’t stopped and sent back to the pits. Unfortunately they were forced to witness the horrific scene of the crash, something that Glenn Irwin’s desperate cry summed up pretty well. The five laps race was declared a result straight away. Which rider would have wanted to restart after all?
The podium, then, was one of the saddest ever, with Irwin, Hickman and Rutter visibly upset. With no anthem, no champagne, no flags. Just silence.
While someone will keep thinking that this is all hypocrisy rather than respect and someone will keep shouting about this “press duty” using pictures of fatal crashes in their articles; while the curtain is brought down over this horrible Macau Grand Prix 2017, our thoughts go to Dan Hegarty’s family and close friends. Because in this moment it will be of little comfort for them thinking that their son, dad, partner and mate has left them achieving his dream of racing on one of the most important road races in the world with the fastest road racers in the world.
Goodbye Hegatron, I will remember you forever burning those sausages for breakfast, dancing at the Jak’s in Douglas with your mock serious expression, proposing awful Thai food; and asking me, last Friday in Macau, who would I pick out for victory between Ian Hutchinson, Michael Dunlop and Peter Hickman. I would have wanted to answer “Dan Hegarty”, I would have done it the following day. But the following day you were not here anymore.
And I will remember you forever telling me, with your usual grin, that you were living your best Macau GP ever.
GREAT WORDS
THANKS
DOUBLE M RACING
RIP DANNO
Wise words Marta. Very sad and tragic incident. As you rightly point out, we are now sadly getting to be accustomed to the disgraful behavior on the web. All this is unacceptable and an insult to any dignity.
Beautifully written Marta and every word so very poignant and true 😢
I not see the race live though later I did watch the videos on YouTube later including the one of Daniel Hegarty crash I watched twice to understand how this happened,but I can tell you I had tears in my eyes how sad I felt .well written Marta and RIP Dan Hegarty
So true, full respect for you , I am one of those anxious mothers, who waits for news
Lovely article. Same thing happened at the nw200. Well known photographer kept on shooting after a major fatality and continues to receive photo passes for the event. No heart shown for the warriors who give their all to keep us entertained
purtroppo il sensazionalismo degli sciacalli da tastiera e da giornalettismo è cosa oramai normale, e fortunatamente poco e male si sposa con il mondo delle Road race. Ricordo che una volta (ora non so, è un po’ che non ne acquisto), quando non c’era copertura mediatica su TT e affini, aspettavo con ansia l’uscita dei VHS mondocorse del TT, e mai, all’interno dei filmati, venivano mostrate le immagini degli incidenti seri.
E’ una forma di rispetto, nei confronti di chi è volato via, consapevole dei rischi, facendo ciò per cui è nato: dominare la strada.
Io rispetto, ammiro e nel mio piccolo invidio questi ragazzi che riescono a fare cose incredibili a cavallo di una moto, mi piace seguire anche sui social e sui vari siti le loro storie e, quando qualcuno cade mi preoccupo e mi dispero come fossero persone che conosco, ma allo stesso tempo evito tutti quei siti, giornali e gruppi dove compaiono immagini degli incidenti o dei parenti in lacrime. La morte, secondo me, è una cosa privata, come il dolore, e come tale va rispettata sempre e comunque.
Complimenti per l’articolo e scusa per la lunghezza del mio post, ma di getto è uscito così!
I knew Dan personally and as someone who has watched road racing since 1968 I have seen many accidents, some which proved to be fatal. It was absolutely disgraceful the way Dan’s accident was shown, thankfully I was not watching it live, I had not realised what time it was shown. Lessons need to be learnt , the race should have been declared null and void, there should have been no podium and the riders should not have had to ride by the accident.
Well said
Ben detto. Respect First!
Thank you for this write up.!!, it shows a more compassion than most.!!!, dan was good lad.!!😞❤️