Motorcycle racing is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. As motorsports try to be as safe as possible, there’s only so much one can do to protect someone on the back of a motorcycle going 200 mph.
A couple horrible crashes occurred over the Moto GP weekend in Austria and thankfully no one was killed. The most serious crash resulted in seven-time World Champion Valentino Rossi and pole sitter Maverick Viñales literally escaping with their lives. The two weren’t involved in the original crash between Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco but the way the Red Bull Circuit is shaped and how Morbidelli and Zarco crashed, their bikes kept going and were directly in the path of the other riders as they made a right turn on the circuit.
As Viñales and Rossi entered the turn, they came within inches of getting hit by both bikes that were still moving at a high rate of speed. Both Morbidelli and Zarco were declared fit to return as this crash could’ve been so much worse.
An absolutely stunning sight in today's @MotoGP race.
Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli were unharmed after this collision sent them, and their bikes, flying. #MotoGP #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/8WOq4L5v9b
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 16, 2020
Somehow, after the red flag was lifted, Viñales and Rossi continued and both finished in the top 10. Rossi finished 5th and Viñales finished 10th.
There was another horrible crash in the Moto2 support race. Enea Bastianini crashed and slid down the track. He was cleared from the wreck and was running away from the other riders but his bike remained on the racing line. Seconds later, Hafizh Syahrin had no time to react seeing a fallen bike in front of him and he struck the bike head on, literally exploding Bastianini’s bike into many pieces and destroying the front of Syahrin’s bike as he tumbled down the track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC85c_7rM7A
The latest report is that Syahrin suffered a pelvic contusion but don’t see any “big fractures” and will undergo further tests.
What made this so dangerous was all the flying parts. There were some very big pieces flying in the path of the other riders but it doesn’t need to be very big for a piece of bike to cause major damage to a person if they were to hit it at a high rate of speed. Thankfully, in both crashes, everyone is going to be healthy and riding again and the motorsports world got very lucky.
[Photo: @MotoGP]
