A horrific accident at the San Marino ‘Moto2’ Grand Prix on 5 September has lead to the tragic death of a 19-year-old Japanese driver, Shoya Tomizawa. The incident, which has rocked the motor racing world, happened when Tomizawa, who drivers for team Suter, and was only in his second Moto2 season, fell off his bike before a corner whilst travelling at full speed after he had completed 15 laps.
After falling, Tomizawa was then hit at full speed by two other bikes been driven by Italian driver Alex De Angelis and British driver Scott Redding who thankfully avoided being seriously hurt themselves.
De Angelis described how he was completely devastated by the crash:
“[It was] the worst ever incident in my career. I saw Shoya fall in front of me. I tried everything I could to avoid him and hit his motorbike instead.”
MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi led the tributes saying Tomizawa was a “lovely guy” and that “when things like this happen, nothing else matters”.
Rossi has himself been working hard to try and improve the safety of motorcycle racing, after he suffered a broken leg during the Italian GP in June 2009. He said that there is a limit to what they can do due to the nature of the sport.
The tragic news of Tomizawa’s death was announced by Dr Claudio Costa, head of the motorcycling world championships medical team. He stated that Tomizawa was alive at the scene and was given first aid treatment before he was rushed to the Riccione Hospital on the Adriatic coast (east coast of Italy).
He was pronounced dead shortly after they had arrived after suffering severe head, chest and abdominal injuries. The Doctor also explained that officials had decided to continue with the race after the crash because of the fear of other accidents if a red flag was suddenly shown.
The tragic news of the young man’s death doing the sport he loved comes just months after a 13 year old driver died in a minor race at the Indianapolis GP and raises new concerns over the safety of the sport.
Moto2 is a new name for the category of bikes just below those in MotoGP however drivers still reach high speeds. Motorcycle racing has always been the most dangerous of all motorsports due to the frequency of riders falling off their bikes leading to regular injuries.
Another driver, Andrea Dovizioso, said:
“You forget sometimes how easily something like this can happen. Sometimes our sport is just too dangerous.”
