Update on British rider whose awful crash caused red flag in Macau GP qualifying
Scary incident in Macau brought out red flags and hospitalised a rider
Qualifying for the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix was red-flagged due to a worrying crash.
English rider Matt Stevenson was involved in the scary incident at Police corner, early on Saturday morning.
With 18 minutes of the session remaining, the red flags came out.
The incident was cleared allowing qualifying to resume but there was concern for the condition of Stevenson.
But his team Dafabet Racing Kawasaki later provided an encouraging update.
“Matt was involved in an incident this morning during Q1 but as you can see up and ‘OK’,” they posted alongside the photo at the top of this page.
“Bit of a back injury but no surgery required. GWS.”
Stevenson wrote: “Gnarly footage from my off… shows how much I remember, I didn't think it was off half that speed!
“Very very lucky to have to the pretty minor injuries I do have after seeing that.
“Sorry for scaring everyone! It looks horrendous!
“I've ridden passed similar scenes and your heart sinks!”
Weather had badly impacted the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix this week.
The first two practice sessions were cancelled due to the wet weather. Then the crashes in a four-wheel session caused more delays for the bikes.
A rearranged practice session on Saturday morning was curtailed after only a few minutes when more rain fell.
After some riders went on an inspection lap, practice resumed.
When qualifying finally began, Stevenson’s crash resulted in a red flag. Davey Todd claimed pole position when the session resumed.
The Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix is scheduled to begin at midnight on Saturday night.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
