FIM releases report into Luis Salom accident

The technical report into Luis Salom's fatal crash during FP1 for the Catalunya Moto2 round is released by the FIM.
FIM releases report into Luis Salom accident

The FIM has released its technical report detailing its findings in the wake of Luis Salom's fatal accident during first free practice for the Catalan Moto2 race in May.

The 24 year-old succumbed to injuries following an accident during Moto2 free practice at turn 12 of the Circuit de Catalunya. No other rider was involved.

The technical report - conducted by the Technical Director and the Director of Technology in the presence of judicial expert Angle Calzada Gomez and independent telemetry expert Lluis Lleonart Gomez - confirms there were no apparent defects with the SAG Team Kalex or the tyres in the run up to the accident.

The report concludes braking offline and at an angle appears to have been the primary cause of the initial crash, though it was the impact with the bike after it struck the barrier that ultimately resulted in his fatal injuries.

Though the SAG Team had suggested bumps leading into Turn 12 played their part, the report says the data showed no evidence of this.

Click here to read the full report delivered to the FIM and view telemetry data

"Confirming the initial analysis Mr. Gomez reported that his data showed that at the time of the accident the bike was 4 Km slower than its fastest lap but at the time of braking the rider was 7 or 8 meters closer to the curve than on his fastest lap. He confirmed that on the piece of straight between the two curves, there was a partial cut in the throttle.

"Mr. Gomez speculated that the rider may have looked back and when returning to look forward misread his position, or was a little off line. This could have resulted in higher than usual brake pressure being applied, which was indicated on the telemetry. As a result of being off line and the braking with the machine being banked the front wheel lost traction resulting in the crash.

"Mr Gomez confirmed that he could not see anything unusual that he felt was of any concern. He also confirmed that there was no evidence in the data that raised issue with the track surface including possible bumps."

Click here to read the full report delivered to the FIM and view telemetry data

Read More