A dangerous situation occurred in the pit lane of the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli at the Misano Grand Prix. On Saturday morning, a motorcycle flew into the Aprilia team pits during Moto2 practice, slightly injuring a mechanic.
The “incriminated” bike is that of Unai Orradre, who is replacing the injured Alex Escrig in the Forward team this weekend. As the Spaniard, a rookie, was riding in the pit lane, where there is a speed limit of 60 km/h to enter the track, a marshal pounced on him. The incident was not broadcast on television, but, according to eyewitnesses, this person wanted to cross the pit lane but had not looked carefully.
So, he went straight into Orradre’s path. There was a collision and the Moto2 bike flew into the Aprilia team’s pits. Photos show how the bike came to a stop in the middle of the pits. One eyewitness was MotoGP pit lane journalist Simon Crafar. “I saw someone coming down the pit wall. He didn’t see the bike because a big group of bikes came out at the start of practice,” the New Zealander reported. “He went straight into the path of the Forward rider. Poor Unai was knocked to the ground by the person who flew into the windshield.”
“I couldn’t believe my eyes. They were both fine. They stood up, walked away and then sat down. But his bike continued down the pit lane without the rider, then turned left and went straight towards Aleix Espargaro’s garage. There, the bike crashed into one of Aleix’s bikes and tore off the entire side fairing. I think a mechanic got injured in his hand. The bike then went straight to where the crew chief and data engineer were sitting. Luckily there was no one there because it wasn’t a MotoGP training session. It seems everyone is fine.”
Orradre was unharmed, but was unable to resume the session. The Aprilia marshal and mechanic were checked at the medical center, but did not suffer serious injuries. The Aprilia mechanic suffered a minor injury to his hand.
“We were very lucky,” said Aleix Espargaro. “I wasn’t there, but they told me that the bike entered the pits. The bike hit my engineers’ table. Luckily Antonio (Jimenez, his chief technician, ed.) and my data engineer had gone out for a coffee a little while before. But this bike completely destroyed the box. We were very lucky. Strange things can happen in this world.”
The Aprilia garage was quickly tidied up and Espargaro’s bike was repaired, allowing him to race the Sprint in the afternoon. Orradre also took part in Moto2 qualifying later in the day.
The Crew of Aleix Espargaro has great success
Photo: Motorsport Images
Memories of the fatal accident at Wakai in 1993
Pit lane accidents can also be fatal. In 1993, in Jerez de la Frontera, a serious accident occurred during qualifying in the 250cc class. At the time, there were no speed limits in the pit lane.
When Nobuyuki Wakai came out of the pits for his qualifying attempt, he was driving down the pit lane at around 100 km/h. This led to a collision with Fabi Wakai. This led to a collision with Fabio Ravaioli, a spectator who was walking casually down the pit lane despite not being authorised to do so.
The 28-year-old spectator broke his thigh and suffered a concussion. Wakai was much worse off, as he hit his head on the concrete edge of the pit wall and his helmet broke. The accident occurred just 30 meters from the Medical Center. Emergency services arrived immediately. However, Wakai was immediately declared clinically dead. He was resuscitated twice and then taken by helicopter to the University Hospital of Seville.
There, doctors performed emergency surgery to relieve two hematomas in his brain. But Wakai could not be saved and died shortly after at the age of 25. Despite the accident, the racetrack program continued. The news of his death reached the racetrack around 7:30 p.m. The Grand Prix of all classes also took place on Sunday.
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