Folger explains terrifying Silverstone fall

Jonas Folger has described himself as “very unlucky” to escape injury after a terrifying 250kph fall at Silverstone, which ruled him out of the British Grand Prix, and admitted he hadn’t followed the correct procedure to warm up his newly fitted front brake before the spill.

In the hours that followed the morning warm-up fall, it was believed the German’s brakes had failed on the entry to Stowe Corner. Indeed, with Folger complaining of braking issues in the previous encounter in Austria, a long dissection of the morning’s events ensued.

What brake suppliers Brembo, Yamaha and Folger later understood was the class rookie had entered the Hangar Straight for the first time with new front brake pads and a new carbon front disc fitted.

Normally, it takes five to six heavy braking zones for Brembo's apparatus to function normally, as the very first impact between pads and disc will wear away some of the outer material on the carbon disc.

Folger had cruised through the first Maggotts/Becketts complex without pulling on his front lever sufficiently, meaning, upon entering the final section of the Hangar Straight and braking for the upcoming Stowe, he did not feel the immediate reaction he had come to expect.

Fearing the worst, the 24-year old stamped on his rear brake to reduce speed, before deciding to take avoiding action, and dismounted at around 250kph – the fastest crash of his racing career.

Folger went on to explain: “So the style of my braking is very critical because my brake level is very close to the handlebar," he said. "So at this point I had a new brake disc and new pads. Normally you run in the system really carefully at five or six braking points to get temperature into the brake.

“At that time I went out from the box and the first braking was over 300kph. You lose some material the first time you touch the brakes, especially when you brake from 300 with a really cold brake and a very close brake lever. You lose some material and that’s why I went to the handlebar with my brake.

“In that moment I was really afraid so I didn’t release the brake in that moment to get back the brake oil or fluid. I was really hectic and didn’t release the brakes enough. That was the result at Silverstone. At the end we decided to change my style of brake lever to stay in the normal range, to have some space, and also to be more careful when we run in a brake.

“[I was going at] Over 250kph. When I first braked I was over 300 and I had no brake so I braked on the rear. But in a short time I had to jump off, but it was quite fast. I am lucky that I am not injured.”

Folger went on to say he had feared a wobble had dislodged his brake pads at first, but the subsequent analysing of the situation had proved otherwise.

“This was my first thought but this didn’t happen, because I had pressure at the first moment, and then I pushed the brake the material went away and I wasn’t sure. Bradley Smith was following me and he saw some smoke.

“The smoke was the result of a cold, new brake disc, cold, new brake pads braking at over 300kph. It was just bad luck and now we understand. Now I can adapt better to this situation if we are using new brakes.”

Tech 3 team boss Hervé Poncharal praised the work conducted by Brembo in the wake of the incident and reiterated Folger’s words, that the fault had not come from neither the equipment, nor the team.

“You know, we had a meeting of one or two hours with the rider and the team. I have never been too politically correct so I can say what I want. What I can tell you is that there was no problem from the maintanance or set-up.

“There was no problem with the parts. There was some problem felt by the rider, but it was more a problem with the system, with the specificity of how you brake. It’s how to use on some special circumstances that created what Jonas felt. There was no technical problem.

“I have to say thanks to Brembo. You can’t imagine the amount of work they’ve been through since Silverstone with the data we received. Also Yamaha because Tsuja, the boss, has been putting a lot of pressure. Since then everything has been monitored. This is what we thought. It was good to go through everything. There was no technical problem.

“It’s always better to know, ‘OK, this is the problem. Then it’s better for the rider and the team to know the problem.’ There was no problem at all. But still, something happened because Jonas is not stupid and he knows how to ride.

“These systems are advanced but you need to be focussed. I don’t want to enter into too many details. I’m not worried and this shouldn’t happen again but it’s something that can happen.”