Rossi: Salom crash corner safety discussed for “last six years”

Moto2 rider Salom was killed when he fell from his bike and went straight on at the Barcelona track’s final corner. His bike impacted the airfence first, and bounced back into him as he too then slid into the barrier.

Speaking in depth to the media for the first time since the accident, MotoGP veteran Rossi says that the run-off at the corner had long been discussed in safety meetings.

“We spoke about Turn 12 in the Safety Commission for the last six years, that we need more run-off,” said Rossi. “But unfortunately there is some work you can do, some you cannot do.

“Because of the grandstand, it’s very expensive to modify the run-off at Turn 12. They put more airfences, but they say to us it’s impossible to have more run-off area."

He added: "The old Turn 12 is a dangerous point. Two years ago [Niccolo] Antonelli had a normal crash there, he did a mistake, and he arrived at the protection [airfence].

"Fortunately he didn’t have any problems physically.”

When asked for his opinion of what could have caused Salom’s crash, Rossi said: “I don’t know, something in the steering, the throttle, the brake. Salom didn’t make the corner, he went straight very early.

“Turn 12 is quite fast, very demanding on the front – there are a lot of bumps, so every lap is a risk.

“Usually the normal crash is 35-40 metres later, and when you open the angle, you have a lot more space [before hitting the barrier]. But unfortunately Salom went straight, and he didn’t slow down.

“I think that something happened with Salom’s bike, because it wasn’t a normal crash.”

Additional reporting by Jamie Klein