Jorge Martin thought of fatal crash in Catalunya MotoGP fall, critical of track safety
Jorge Martin says Catalunya must improve safety after his MotoGP practice accident.
Jorge Martin said that he “thought of Luis Salom” during his Friday practice accident at the Catalan MotoGP.
Salom lost his life at the Barcelona circuit during the 2016 Moto2 event, when he fell and then followed his bike into an air fence at the penultimate turn.
That corner has since been modified but Martin also went into an airfence, behind his Aprilia, when he fell at Turn 12 on Friday morning.
The Le Mans winner eventually staggered away and, although he missed the remainder of the session, returned for the practice starts.
"I'm feeling fine after the scare of this morning's accident. I was lucky because it was a dangerous fall and I was very frightened," Motorsport.com quotes Martin as saying.
"It's very dangerous to fall there. I don't like to say it at all, but when I fell I thought of Luis Salom.
"Luckily, my bike flipped over and I hit the fairings, not the handlebars. They need to improve safety at that spot," Martin added.
Martin fell again in the afternoon, this time at Turn 2, and was left outside the top ten, meaning he will need to take part in Saturday’s Qualifying 1.
