– LCR-Honda issued an update on Tuesday regarding the condition of Johann Zarco, after the Frenchman was involved in the crash during the second of three starts in the MotoGP race at the Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona last Sunday. After an initial check at the track’s medical center, Zarco was taken to a nearby hospital in Barcelona. He is now in France.
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In the crash at Turn 1 of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Zarco’s left leg was trapped in Francesco Bagnaia’s factory Ducati, resulting in ligament injuries to the Frenchman’s left knee. This was confirmed at the hospital on Sunday.
After a night in the hospital in Barcelona, Zarco returned to his home country France on Monday. On Tuesday, he was examined by Dr. Bertrand Sonnery-Cottet at the Santyin Orthopedic Center in Lyon. The LCR team’s statement reads: “After a thorough examination, it is assumed that [Zarco] will have to wait a few more weeks before undergoing surgery for his ligament injuries.”
The reason surgery cannot be performed yet? “So that the original trauma and other injuries to the knee have time to heal before the procedure.” It also states: “After the surgery, a detailed rehabilitation plan will be created, based on which the medical team can estimate a possible timeline for his return.”
The next MotoGP race weekend is scheduled from May 29 to 31 in Mugello (Italy). Zarco will miss at least this race weekend, possibly more, according to the current situation. Meanwhile, he himself describes for the first time how the crash during the second of three starts last Sunday unfolded from his perspective.
Zarco recalls crash: “Never experienced anything like this”
As with the crash involving Joan Mir and Brad Binder, which occurred on Saturday at the start of the sprint race at Turn 1, the aerodynamic suction of modern MotoGP bikes also played a role in the crash involving Zarco and Bagnaia, which also involved Luca Marini.
“I was sucked in behind Marini and couldn’t brake in time to avoid him,” Zarco recalls to the French daily L’Equipe. After his LCR-Honda was sucked in by Marini’s factory Honda during braking, Zarco crashed and got his left leg caught in Bagnaia’s Ducati.
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“I fell along with his motorcycle, with my left leg trapped between the wheel, seat, and exhaust,” Zarco said. When Bagnaia’s Ducati came to rest in the gravel trap, Zarco was lying on his back with his left leg trapped in the Ducati. Bagnaia and Marini immediately recognized the seriousness of the situation, as did the race marshals at that spot.
Zarco was conscious, but the pain was unbearable, as he now describes: “I was stuck in the gravel trap and screaming in pain. I felt a burning pain in my leg and everyone gathered around me was afraid to touch me. They were afraid of making my injuries worse. So I pulled on my leg myself.”
Soon after, medical personnel arrived. “Finally, they helped me. My leather suit was cut open and I was given an infusion to relieve the pain. I had never experienced anything like that. It was absolutely terrifying,” admits the 35-year-old MotoGP veteran from France.
Zarco blames himself for the second start
In retrospect, Zarco regrets that he even took part in the second of ultimately three MotoGP starts on Sunday. This second start, during which the crash involving Zarco, Bagnaia, and Marini occurred, was the result of the crash involving Alex Marquez just before, directly behind Pedro Acosta between Turns 9 and 10.
Zarco had already been affected by Alex Marquez’s crash, as debris from the Spaniard’s Gresini Ducati had hit his left foot. “My foot was already purple,” the Frenchman recalls, adding: “We applied ice to the bruise and the pain subsided somewhat. That’s when I should have made the decision to give up.”
“The images of Alex’s crash and that hit on my foot really messed me up. I was no longer focused when we lined up again on the grid. I could slap myself for even attempting that second start,” Zarco said.
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