It was no surprise at all to find a big crash at Turn 11. I discussed the reasons why this often happens in the track map post, and the first (I think) victim of the weekend was Pol Espargaro. I was looking the other way when I heard a loud backfire as Pol passed me, then that sickening sound of a bike hitting the deck. I spun around in time to catch Pol sliding through the turn and toward the gravel.

As the bike sparks, Pol prepares for a sudden deceleration as he will soon leave the smooth pavement.

And now it starts to hurt, for both rider and for motorcycle.

Pol starts to tumble, but the bike starts to flip and in a dramatic way indeed.

Pol has some control over how he rolls but the bike is at the mercy of friction and momentum and odd shapes that stick out to catch the gravel.

Things fall apart, the center cannot hold. Pol’s second bike is coming, because the first one is turning and turning in the widening gyre. How’s that for a literary reference applied to motorcycle racing? It’s so good it’s nearly plagiarism. (That’s Yeats, btw. Boom! Not plagiarism anymore.)

Pol was fine and hustled back to the box for his second bike to complete the session. I’m working late int he media center (just turned 10PM), but I expect Pol’s mechanics have a much later night ahead of them to make sure Pl has two shiny, working motorcycles tomorrow for FP3…

Photographs: ©2015 by Scott Jones / PHOTO.GP – All Rights Reserved

Camera Info: Nikon D4 with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 and Nikon 500mm f/4.0

[mgallery keyword=”Sachsenring”]