Big accident takes Casey Stoner out of Suzuka lead
Retired double MotoGP champion Casey Stoner suffered a big accident while leading Sunday's Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race.
The 29-year-old Australian took over the #634 Musashi Honda from team-mate Takumi Takahashi just before the end of the first hour, moving into the lead when the Factory Yamaha of Katsuyuki Nakasuga pitted soon after.
Taking part in his first motorcycle race since Valencia 2012, disaster struck for Stoner on the fast, curving, downhill approach to the hairpin. After a front-end wobble, Stoner ran onto the grass where he fell from his CBR1000RR - sending rider and bike somersaulting.
Casey Stoner lost the front on the grass under braking for the hairpin #Suzuka8Hours pic.twitter.com/GvAXppBQTM-- Crash.net MotoGP (@crash_motogp) July 26, 2015
Well my #Suzuka8H ended spectacularly!Stuck Throttle = Broken Scapula + Fractured Tibia and a few more tweaks. Sucks! pic.twitter.com/aNtgwDGIzG-- Casey Stoner (@Official_CS27) July 26, 2015
Sorry to my team @mickeyvdmark, Takumi Takahashi and the entire crew, they have worked too hard to end it like that. Thank you guys!-- Casey Stoner (@Official_CS27) July 26, 2015
Australian Josh Hook (TSR Honda) then led the race after the restart, before being passed by Nakasuga's team-mate Bradley Smith.
Smith will later hand over to fellow Tech 3 MotoGP rider Pol Espargaro, who qualified the #21 bike on pole, while Stoner would have handed his bike to WSBK star Michael van der Mark.
Big accident for Casey Stoner while leading the #Suzuka8Hours Rider ok but race over pic.twitter.com/tVxVpLpIct-- Crash.net MotoGP (@crash_motogp) July 26, 2015
The team are waiting for the bike to arrive back in the garage to investigate what may have happened in Casey's crash at #Suzuka8hours-- Repsol Honda Team (@HRC_MotoGP) July 26, 2015
