Takaaki Nakagami injured, Augusto Fernandez penalised after Brno MotoGP Sprint clash
A “big impact” during Saturday’s Brno Sprint has ruled Takaaki Nakagami out of Sunday’s race, with Augusto Fernandez handed a long lap penalty.
Takaaki Nakagami has been ruled out of Sunday’s Czech Republic MotoGP at Brno following a “big impact” with Yamaha wild-card Augusto Fernandez during Saturday’s Sprint race.
The incident occurred at Turn 3 on lap two, when Fernandez, running 21st, slammed into Nakagami, standing in for the injured Somkiat Chantra at LCR Honda.
The heavy contact flung both factory test riders to the ground.
Fernandez immediately went to check on Nakagami, who initially appeared to have escaped any serious injury.
However, the Japanese was later diagnosed with a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) tear in his right knee.
An LCR statement confirmed: “What was first believed to be a minor contusion was later diagnosed as a PCL tear in his right knee. An MRI scan will be performed to confirm the extent of the injury... As a result, Takaaki Nakagami will not take part in Sunday’s race at Brno.”
Nakagami, who finished sixth in the wet Le Mans Sprint earlier this season as an HRC wild-card, explained:
“Augusto hit me at the apex. I had a big impact and damaged my right knee. At first, I didn’t feel much pain, but later it started to feel really strange.
“After checks at the Medical Centre, they found a ligament injury. So, unfortunately, I’m unfit for tomorrow and will return to Japan for further examination.”
"Sorry to Taka"
Fernandez, who qualified in last place, two positions behind Nakagami, was handed a long lap penalty for the incident by the FIM MotoGP Stewards, as a first offence.
"First of all, I want to say 'Sorry' to Takaaki Nakagami and also to my team, because it was my mistake," said Fernandez.
"The riders ahead of me braked earlier than I expected, and I got sucked in by the slipstream. I knew I was going to have contact with Taka, so I tried to put the bike on the ground before the impact to make it smoother.
"All in all, it was a hard day. Because we had no dry track time yesterday, we had to do everything this morning. Still, I wasn't super far. Even though I'm last on the grid, I was about 1s from Fabio's qualifying lap, which is not so bad on a 2-minute track.
"I felt confident I could do a good Sprint race, or at least get some information for tomorrow, but it ended early for me. Sorry again to Taka."
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Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
