Jorge Navarro survived the serious accident in the Moto2 race at Phillip Island (Australia) well under the circumstances. After his fall, the Spaniard was run over by Simone Corsi. Navarro broke his left femur and underwent surgery in Melbourne.
Since then, the accident and first aid have been processed. It took two laps before Navarro could be transported away by the relief forces. The race director allowed the rescue with a yellow flag and did not interrupt the race.
“I looked at the pictures because I wanted to know exactly where Corsi met me,” reports Navarro in an interview with ‘AS’. “It was like a train ran over me. I didn’t feel where it hit me.”
“I just felt my leg fly to Sydney, as I jokingly say. I didn’t feel my leg. It was like it was loose. When I saw my leg, part was pointing one way and the other part another . I knew it was serious.”
“I immediately signaled to the marshals that I needed help and the race had to be stopped. I could hardly breathe and got very nervous. My leg was in pieces. Corsi came over and helped me. He took my helmet off because I couldn’t breathe.”
“When he did that, blood dripped from his injured finger onto my leg. When I saw that, I almost collapsed because I thought it was my blood,” Navarro describes the dramatic moments in the meadow.
But the broken leg wasn’t the only problem. The artery in the thigh, one of the thickest in the body, was also injured. Navarro lost a lot of blood. Without immediate emergency care, there would have been a risk that he would bleed to death.
The 26-year-old underwent a three-hour operation at Albert Hospital in Melbourne. “My leg was soaked in blood but luckily they were able to insert a long pin from hip to knee. The bone is in the right place now.”
“My whole leg is black. Hopefully when the blood edema goes down it will get better,” says Navarro. The muscles also need to heal and regain strength step by step over the coming weeks.
Driver angry, race director apologizes
The big point of discussion was why the race directors didn’t interrupt the race, because during the first aid the motorcycles raced just past the spot. That caused a lot of criticism in the paddock.
“I don’t understand it,” Navarro said angrily. “What else has to happen for them to show the red flag in such a situation? I was a meter off the track. The motorcycles passed a meter and a half next to me.”
“It’s true that there aren’t many falls at this point. It was a bit windy on the exit of the corner. All the ingredients for a tragedy were there. Luckily it wasn’t the day I had to go. But that mustn’t happen again happen.”
Despite the yellow flags, the drivers didn’t really slow down. If other riders had fallen at this point, it could have put Navarro and the rescue team in great danger. “What we saw on TV was unacceptable,” stresses Marc Marquez.
Few drivers in Malaysia in the safety commission
At the Malaysian Grand Prix, this was also an issue in the safety commission, where the drivers discussed it with the race director. “They apologized and said they made a mistake,” reports Aleix Espargaro. “They know that very well. Hopefully they learn from it.”
“They told us,” adds Joan Mir, “that they made a mistake. Only half the MotoGP riders were there. It shouldn’t be like that. We put pressure on things like this not to happen again. Important is that they get it.”
Aleix Espargaro is annoyed that so few drivers were present at the meeting: “There were only six, seven drivers. I don’t understand why. It was an important moment to be together. It’s not about blaming anyone. “
“We have to be constructive and help them to improve the championship. They give us a chance to go to the safety committee. But if you don’t go, you can’t criticize them.”
Vinales: The drivers also have an obligation
Maverick Vinales finds that “it’s complicated for race control” and also holds the drivers responsible: “If nothing happened to us drivers in a crash, we should get up immediately and run away.”
“When someone is down, you know something serious has happened and there has to be a red flag. Sometimes the riders are down after a crash, even though nothing happened. It’s difficult for race officials to judge. “
It was also discussed whether the drivers should have a button on the handlebars with which they could signal a red flag to the race control. That would be a possibility, for example, to send feedback to the race directors in the event of heavy rain.
But Vinales doesn’t think much of it: “I don’t think we should be involved in it. Some drivers would behave well, others would cheat. We need someone to be responsible for it.”