MotoGP’s runaway championship leader Pecco Bagnaia has been caught up in a terrifying opening-lap incident in the Catalan Grand Prix, which was red-flagged.
Bagnaia was leading the field coming out of Turn 2 at Barcelona when he had a massive highside, getting launched remarkably high into the air off his Ducati, and continuing to spin around as he landed.
The reigning champion thus turned right into the path of Brad Binder’s KTM, which seemed to run over Bagnaia’s legs – though he was then thankfully avoided by the rest of the pack.
Bagnaia was taken to the medical centre by ambulance for a check-up in the aftermath, and then redirected to Hospital General de Catalunya.
MotoGP’s medical director Angel Charte told Spanish broadcaster DAZN, as translated by the official MotoGP website, that Bagnaia had sustained multiple injuries from the contact, but that the initial x-rays only turned up “a small injury” that couldn’t be conclusively linked to this incident (as opposed to one from the past).
Charte said Bagnaia was “conscious and oriented” after the crash, but that “it is difficult to be sure there is no fracture”, hence why Bagnaia headed to hospital for a CT scan.
Remarkably – and unfortunately – that was already the second big crash in just two corners of the aborted race.
The Turn 1 incident is currently under investigation #CatalanGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/IykJj4GPoL
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 3, 2023
Coming into Turn 1, Bagnaia’s team-mate Enea Bastianini took a very sharp inside line and ran out of room with fellow Ducati rider Johann Zarco up ahead.
The resulting accident removed took not just Bastianini and Zarco, but three other Ducati riders off their bikes – Gresini Ducati pair Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio, and VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi.
Bastianini was also taken to the medical centre, albeit by scooter rather than by ambulance, and then also subsequently headed to hospital, with ankle and hand fractures reported as a possibility.
It naturally meant neither of the works Ducatis took the restart.
