Avintia Ducati rider Loris Baz was fortunate to escape unhurt from a high-speed crash on the second day of MotoGP testing at Sepang.
Baz was on the start-finish straight when a Michelin rear tyre failure launched him off his bike at 290 km/h, but walked away with just bruises.
The test was red flagged for an hour, with returning tyre supplier Michelin opting to withdraw its soft compound – used by Baz at the time of the accident – for the remainder of the day.
Baz returned to the track in the closing stages of the day’s running, ending up 19th on the timesheets.
“We had a problem with the rear tyre and I crashed out at 290 km/h and my bike was destroyed,” he said.
“Fortunately I was unhurt, but you always loose energy after this kind of accident, because even if you don’t have anything serious, you feel all your muscles like if you have been training during 20 hours.
“My mechanics made a great job to put the bike back on track for the last two hours.
“It was not bad, but I felt a little bit tired riding the bike and I didn’t want to push and crash again.
“But I matched the same lap time from yesterday testing some suspension parts that I didn’t like too much.”
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