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'Oh my god': Motorsport world in shock over 'horrific' incident

Sam Goodwin
·Sports Editor
·4-min read
Hafizh Syahrin, pictured here after he was sent flying through the air in the crash.
Hafizh Syahrin was sent flying through the air as his bike shattered. Image: Fox Sports

Motorsport fans were left in a state of shock on Sunday night after one of the scariest crashes in recent memory.

Spain’s Jorge Martin won the Austrian Moto2 Grand Prix, however it was a crash that injured Malaysia’s Hafizh Syahrin that stole the headlines.

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Enea Bastianini fell off his bike coming out of a bend, his machine left in the middle of the track in a highly dangerous spot.

Coming around the corner at full speed, Syahrin hit the Italian’s bike and was catapulted into the air, smashing his bike into pieces.

The stricken Syahrin was treated on the track and rushed away in an ambulance with his team saying the rider was conscious but had an injured hip.

“That was horrific,” one commentator said on TV.

“It’s just about the worst thing that can happen to riders, it doesn’t get much scarier than that at Grand Prix level.”

MotoGP reporter Simon Patterson tweeted: “Red flag in Moto2. One of the most horrid crashes I‘ve seen in a long time. F***.”

Edgar Pons and Andi Farid Izdihar also fell as debris littered the track, with the race red-flagged.

The race was eventually restarted with victory going to Martin, the 2018 Moto3 champion.

Drama continues in MotoGP race

However the drama continued in the MotoGP race, with Valentino Rossi saying a rival’s stray bike, travelling at around 300 km/h, almost “killed him” in a horrifying near-miss.

The 41-year-old Italian, a nine-time world champion, was left badly shaken after Franco Morbidelli's Yamaha flew across the track just centimetres in front of him.

Morbidelli and the Ducati of Johann Zarco had collided just seconds before the riders slipped through turn four at Spielberg on lap eight of the race. Both men were unseated.

Zarco’s free-wheeling Ducati also came desperately close to hitting Rossi as well as his Yamaha factory teammate Maverick Vinales who was just ahead of him.

Hafiz Syahrin, pictured here after the horrific crash in the Moto2 Austrian Grand Prix.
Medics attend to Hafiz Syahrin after the horrific crash during the Moto2 Austrian Grand Prix. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP) (Photo by JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

“Morbidelli's bike nearly killed me,” fumed Rossi.

“Even Zarco's Ducati passed a few metres over me, it was a very dangerous moment.”

Incredibly, Rossi managed to compose himself and after the race was restarted came home in fifth place.

“I was so scared. I am shaken, resuming the race was tough. I took the biggest risk of my career,” Rossi told Sky Italia.

“I saw a shadow, I thought it was the helicopter from above, sometimes it happens during the race that the helicopter passes over and casts a shadow. Instead, two 'bullets' arrived.

“The saint of motorcyclists today did a really great job, it was a very dangerous thing.”

Andrea Dovizioso won an eventful Austrian MotoGP for Ducati just 24 hours after revealing he would leave the Italian team at the end of the season.

Spain's Joan Mir on a Suzuki robbed Ducati of a one-two by clinching second spot from Australian Jack Miller with a single corner to spare.

with AFP