An unusual incident occurred during the first free practice of the Solidarity GP of Barcelona in MotoGP, involving Maverick Viñales and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), who suffered a fall.
Unusual because it happened after the practice session had ended, during the start drills. The Spanish Aprilia rider shared his perspective on the situation:
– For me, it’s not about who is at fault. In the end, start practice is to practice the start, so you arrive to the first corner trying to disengage the device, so you brake late. I saw Pecco was in the middle, very slow – I don’t know why. And I tried to avoid him, I went to outside. But I gave like [the space of] two bikes. When I saw the crash, I said, «Maybe I touched him, I don’t know». But then I watched the replay and there was plenty of room. I think he maybe got scared, he grabbed the front brake, and locked the front tyre. But it was crazy, to be honest. For me it’s an incident, sometimes things like that happens.
Despite the fall, Bagnaia escaped without significant injuries or major damage to his bike. Viñales, on the other hand, managed to avoid falling, despite the contact that occurred.
