Marquez escapes serious injury following heavy crash at Mugello

Marc Marquez came away without any serious injuries from a serious crash yesterday during free practice for the Gran Premio d'Italia TIM at Mugello when the Spanish rookie lost control of his Repsol Honda RC213V machine at the 200mph turn one leaving him with no option to jump off the bike to avoid hitting the wall and sending him flying into the gravel but miraculously, the rider only sustained bruising to his chin.

Speaking later on when he was released from the medical center, Marquez explained what happened saying, "Just after the hill on the straight, I grabbed for the brakes but I (lost) the front. I tried to save it but the bike was pulling me towards the wall, so I jumped from the bike to avoid hitting it. I hit my chin hard and strained my neck quite badly; I also have some contusions to my right shoulder, arm and leg, but other than that I'm okay. Thanks to all the medical team that were quickly on the scene to assist me. Now I need to rest and see how I feel later tonight and in the morning."

Following the full check up at the on-track medical center Marquez was diagnosed with a slight fracture to his shoulder and bruising to his chin but was deemed fit to ride in the Saturday morning FP3 session. The bad luck didn’t stop at Friday’s monster crash with Marquez once again crashing in this morning’s practice session leaving the Spaniard faced with having to ride in the first qualifying session after missing out on a top ten position this morning.

Meanwhile, there was also some big crashes by other riders in the paddock with Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith taking a heavy fall in yesterday’s FP2 session with the British rider luck to come away without any broken bones but he did sustain a badly damaged little finger and his team saying he will need a skin graft operation next week. There was also misfortune for Ducati Team rider Andrea Dovizioso who, like Marquez, fell heavily at turn one yesterday with the Italian rider straining his neck in the process. The news was also reported that Ignite Pramac rider Ben Spies has decided to pull out of this weekend’s Grand Prix as the shoulder he had surgery on recently is still not rehabilitated properly.