Footage from Valentino Rossi's on-board camera shows just how close the seven-time world champion came to being wiped out in Sunday's horror crash at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Rossi and Maverick Vinales were lucky to escape serious injury after the out of control bikes of Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco passed between them as they exited the third turn at the Red Bull Ring.
Morbidelli and Zarco had crashed at nearly 300 km/h, sending their bikes through the gravel trap and into the path of Rossi and Vinales.
"The images from my camera are the ones that scare me the most, because from here you can understand the speed with which Franco's bike crossed the track right in front of me," Rossi wrote on Twitter.
"She passed so hard that I didn't even see her. When I got back to the pits I was already shaken enough to have seen Zarco's bike literally fly over Maverick's head.
"Miraculously, nobody got hurt, but I hope this incident makes everyone think, especially us riders.
The accident happened at the same corner where Formula One driver Takuma Sato was lucky to avoid serious injury in a similar crash 18 years ago.
"Zarco did not intentionally cause such an incident, but it is still a serious error of assessment, which a MotoGP rider cannot afford - especially in a braking [zone] at 310km/h," Rossi said.
"Moving quickly to the right and braking in the face of Franco, he didn't give him the place to slow down, so Morbidelli couldn't help but hit him at full speed.
"I understand that in the race we play a lot and everyone gives their best to stay in front, but we must not forget that ours is a dangerous sport and that the safety of our opponents is much more important that gaining a position."
Zarco will have surgery tonight in Italy on a fractured right wrist.
Former Australian world champion Mick Doohan, who won five consecutive titles in the 1990s, says everyone was lucky to survive relatively unscathed.
"It could have had fatal consequences for Valentino and his teammate," Doohan told the In the Fast Lane podcast.
"That's not taken lightly, but the riders are mentally prepared for that, and as you see they get back on the bike and they go again.
"There is a little bit of time to reflect, and it's just so fortunate that the riders involved walked away."
Despite the scare, Doohan says the riders are very conscious of the consequences of a mistake. He pointed out that Rossi in particular carried the scars from the fatal accident that took the life of Marco Simoncelli in 2011.
"Every time those guys put their helmet on and hop on the bike, they're well experienced and they've seen a lot of adversity throughout their years on the bike," Doohan said.
"They're well aware they can be part of the accident, or badly injured or worse.
"Although nobody likes to see it, and nobody ever believes it's going to happen to them, unfortunately it's just part and parcel of racing.
"Valentino's been around longer than most, he's unfortunately also been involved in the accident with Simoncelli in Malaysia a number of years ago, which had a fatal outcome, and I guess there was probably flashbacks for him."
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/motorsport/valentino-rossi-austrian-gp-crash-on-board-footage-shows-how-close-came-to-disaster/437c1c7c-0037-4b15-80a3-c77058ca142b
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