Heartbreaking letter to Luis Salom: "Luis, your face did not say you would leave"

Luis Costa Balboa, a right-hand man and one of the most important figures in Luis Salome’s career, poured out his feelings at the loss of a protégé on paper. After the tragic event, he wrote himself a letter of consolation addressed to the unfortunate racer. We have translated it into Slovenian and are publishing it in its entirety.

 

“I’ve tried so many times not to think about it. But it’s really inevitable that I wouldn’t think of you all day.

I find it hard to imagine that you are not here, that you are not with us. Not to control you as you drive through bends. Not to blame you for doing something wrong. Nothing will be the way it used to be.

You're gone. You left without saying goodbye.

None of our team members was prepared for such a situation.

It was a damn second free practice, otherwise like any other training on Friday afternoon. No, this was not a war in which you had to fight for your life and you also did not suffer from any disease. It was just your life. It was the engines that gave you everything.

Louis…

Damn it! That day, your face didn’t say you were going to leave forever.

It was Friday afternoon. Just before the press conference, you were joking with me and Eduardo Pereales. You know, your pranks and rhymes about number 5…! You 'teased' me again.

I grabbed you by the waist to ‘beat’ you, and you bastard just laughed at me.

Then you went and left me, but only for a short time… I fell for another of your pranks again. Eduardo always stuck with you when you made fun of me and dragged me by the nose with your antics.

Then we talked about my Tmax. You fell in love with him. When you drove it, it completely confused you and you bought one just like that for your father.

You commented on your workouts with the Yamaha MT07… Also Supermotard engines.

Damn it, Luis. What a piece of shit, man…

I am writing all this in your honor. That I will always remember what a great and good person you were.

You were on a motorcycle like a wild horse in a race - aggressive and unstoppable.

You also didn’t seem so likable on television. But once a man met you and trusted you, this strong bond of trust could no longer be stopped. I liked that about you, I'm like that too.

I want to cry, but I have no more tears left. I need to write to you to make me feel better.

Damn day, damn hour, damn training, damn bend, damn accident. Is this a dream? God forbid, let this be a dream!

This should be a weekend for fun. Like an action movie with the most beautiful ending, but the script suddenly changed and showed everything ugly in between.

On Friday, before the first free practice, you told me you left my scooter keys on the table. I myself could not come to the first free practice due to family matters, but for the second I promised you that I would be punctual.

You were a really good boy. You surprised me every day, over and over again. Back then on Friday, when you already had to focus on the bike and the ride, you sent me a message at 14:22 via Whatsapp about how my dad was feeling after the anxiety attack.

This can only be done by someone who has a really big heart.

You finished the first free practice eighth. You were so pleased and happy on your Kalex.

In the SAG Racing Team truck, Jesko Raffin and you stretched as usual. And when I saw you on all fours stretching your back, I kicked you in the ass for a joke. I told you words that always relax racers. As always, I’ve given you tips to enjoy your workout and to keep everything going as it will, on its own.

And, Luis… The last time I saw you was in turn 4. I was sitting on a Repsol scooter, and you were training very wildly and fast.

I highlighted a note in the notes, I should have told you at the end of the workout. The fact that in 'La Moreneta', entering from the left, you make very good use of the track and you are one of the fastest in this sector.

But you surprised me again and never stepped in front of me again. I was waiting for you at the scooter. I was waiting for you with a list of your times, with my route map, with my pen, with my notes…

They waved a red flag… I don't want to mention the rest anymore.

I never want to repeat the tragic moments I went through after your fall. This agony… I could only watch you lying helplessly in the 12th bend of the Barcelona racetrack… I was not allowed on the track either. They didn’t let me see how you are if you move, if you talk… This is the hardest thing I’ve ever seen and experienced in my life.

Dude, now I can never help you on the track again. But I will be able to watch your star shine with all its might on dark nights. The largest star in the universe, 'Star number 39'.

But I will keep my folder with notes and pen. For that day when we reunite up there. Then I will be able to control you again as you rush through the bends. And when the workouts in paradise are over, we’ll be joking about your number 5 pranks again.

You left us, man…

My fast racer. Where you are, keep riding that unstoppability. It describes you and it has marked you.

You have been, are and will be - always mine, always Mexican.

Luis Salom Horrach
7-8-91 / 3-6-16