Bezzecchi, Vinales Sprint MotoGP clash: ‘I saw two bikes explode’, ‘Debris hit my arm’

While attention was unsurprisingly focused on the condition of Marco Bezzecchi and Maverick Vinales after their huge collision on the penultimate lap of the Australian MotoGP Sprint race, other riders were also caught up in the aftermath.

Bezzecchi’s VR46 team-mate Fabio di Giannantonio was in seventh place, directly behind the Bezzecchi-Vinales battle, when the impact occurred in the braking zone for Turn 1.

“It was a very scary moment, believe me,” di Giannantonio said. “Because when you arrive there at 350 km/h and see two bikes in front of you exploding, literally, it’s scary. Also because some pieces of their bikes hit me on my leathers, helmet and screen. Luckily, everybody seems OK.”

Trackhouse Aprilia stand-in Lorenzo Savadori, at the back of the field, was struck on the arm by a bigger piece of debris which put him in doubt for Sunday.

“A piece of one of the bikes that had crashed was on track and the rider in front of me picked it up with his bike and it hit my arm,” Savadori said on Saturday evening.

“For the moment, I’m declared unfit because I don’t have power in the right hand - nothing is broken, but maybe a nerve in the elbow got all the impact, which is why I don’t have strength.

“Tomorrow [Sunday] morning, I will have to do a medical check to find out if I have enough strength to race.

“It was a very dangerous situation because I think it was the front fender on the track and I didn’t see it at 340 km/h.

“I hope that my arm will improve during the night.”

While understanding that the attention of marshals and Race Direction was on Bezzecchi and Vinales, Trackhouse team director Davide Brivio told Simon Crafar that the Sprint should probably have been red-flagged due to the debris.

Fortunately, like Bezzecchi and Vinales, Savadori took part in Sunday's warm-up and is set to start the grand prix.

The FIM Stewards have given Bezzecchi a long lap penalty for causing the collision with Vinales.