A contact between Brad Binder and Johann Zarco sets off a chain reaction at the start in Misano – Three riders crash into the gravel at turn 1
For three riders the MotoGP race in Misano ended right in the first turn. There was an accident in the midfield that sent Johann Zarco (Pramac-Ducati), Michele Pirro (Ducati) and Pol Espargaro (Honda) flying into the gravel. Fortunately, all three did not suffer any serious injuries.
What happened? Zarco didn’t get the best start from sixth on the second row of the grid and fell back in the first few metres. “I missed the start. But it wasn’t a drama like in Spielberg,” described the Frenchman. Motorbikes shot past Zarco on the left and right.
Brad Binder came from behind. The KTM rider had started from the fifth row. Things got tight in turn one. “Binder arrived very quickly at turn 1 and touched my handlebars,” said Zarco. “I didn’t expect him to be there because there wasn’t much space. “
Binder confirms that he felt a touch, “There was chaos in turn 1. I went to the inside. When Zarco turned in, it got very tight. I think he got caught in the middle. Sorry I was involved there.”
“I felt something by my left shoe. Maybe I touched his wing. That was probably enough for his front wheel to collapse. It’s a shame I was involved in a racing accident.”
That set off a chain reaction afterwards. “I crashed in the first corner due to contact with Zarco,” Pirro fretted. And the next rider to crash in this chain reaction was Espargaro on his Honda.
“You can see from the pictures that Brad went into the first corner a bit too fast,” Espargaro thinks. “He then collided with Johann. That’s why Johann crashed. Then he crashed into Pirro and then into me. “
No broken bones for Pirro and Espargaro
Zarco and Espargaro were also back on their feet in a moment. Only Pirro was taken away on a stretcher. “I’m not injured,” Zarco confirmed, adding with a laugh, “At least I’ll have plenty of strength for Tuesday because I’m not tired from the race.”
Espargaro and Pirro went to the medical centre to be examined. Pirro had an ankle X-rayed, but no broken bones were found in the Italian. Espargaro felt pain in his left wrist.
He broke this wrist in the 2019 practice session at MotorLand Aragon. Because of that, the then KTM rider had to skip the race then. Now he was worried that this old injury is injured again.
But Espargaro also confirmed after the check that nothing is broken. “But the wrist is swelling more and more,” sighs the Spaniard. Will he be able to take part in the test on Tuesday then? “I think it will be okay.”
“Tomorrow it will be painful for sure, but the day after it will be better for sure. It’s important that I can test because I have a lot to sort out in my head. The test will be very important psychologically and technically.”
The race stewards classified the starting accident as a racing accident. Therefore, no penalties were imposed.
