Update Johann Zarco: This is how his leg is doing after the start crash

– Johann Zarco crashed in the first corner during the first restart of the Catalan Grand Prix. In the braking zone before the first corner, the Frenchman rode into the rear wheel of his Honda teammate Luca Marini. Both crashed and also dragged Francesco Bagnaia into the gravel trap.

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Zarco’s left leg got caught on Bagnaia’s Ducati. He lay next to the motorcycle in the gravel trap, his leg still trapped by the bike. Bagnaia and Marini immediately rushed to help their colleague.

The race was stopped for the second time to send the ambulance to Zarco. Afterwards, the 35-year-old was taken to the Medical Center for further treatment and then to the Universitari General de Catalunya.

“He was taken to the local hospital,” confirms LCR team boss Lucio Cecchinello to TNT Sports. “An MRI and a scan will be performed there to determine exactly what he has.”

“He has pain in his left leg, pain around the knee. But fortunately, he has no concussion. He has no injuries in the upper body area, nor to his feet and ankles.”

After further examinations, Zarco personally reported with a video on Instagram and shared how he is doing: “Hello everyone. Don’t worry, we are still waiting for the results of the examinations.”

“I have a neck brace, but it is more annoying than really bad. The real problem is the knee. The ligaments have given way, but the femur is not broken.”

“A small fracture at the lower end of the fibula tip, on the outside of the left ankle. I’ll keep you updated. Just so you don’t worry too much: more scare than damage, you could say.”

“I’ll keep in touch. Tonight I will sleep in the hospital because they want to keep me under observation, then we will see,” Zarco concludes his video clip recorded on his smartphone.

What Marini and Bagnaia report about the accident

Marini and Bagnaia were uninjured in the accident and were able to participate again in the second and final restart. When they got up from the gravel trap after the fall and saw Zarco half under the motorcycle, they were very worried.

“It was tough,” says Marini after the race, “especially for me, because when I saw Johann there with his leg in that position, the thought of Suzuka immediately came to mind.” Marini had been seriously injured there in 2025 during a test.

“That was a really, really bad feeling. Now that the adrenaline and all the concentration for the race are gone, it really hits my stomach.”

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“I hope the medical team did a good job to at least spare him the pain. Because I know that pain in such a moment. But he is lucky that the ambulance was there quite quickly.”

Bagnaia was also worried when he saw Zarco: “My impact on the ground was very hard, enormous. But when I saw my motorcycle and him hanging on it, I only saw his leg. That sight really affected me.”

During the interruption, Bagnaia cooled his left hand with an ice pack. “After the race, I had an X-ray of my left wrist. Everything is fine,” said Bagnaia, “even though I don’t feel particularly well.”

“The problem is the neck: I feel dizzy because of the cervical spine. I had a hard impact on the neck, the cervical spine is affected, and the muscles here are contracting – that’s why I feel dizzy.”

Starts are very tricky in Barcelona

On Saturday, there was an accident at the start of the sprint in the first corner of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and in the Grand Prix at this restart. Zarco is one of the most experienced riders in the field and yet he made this mistake.

“In my opinion,” says Marini, “Johann really, really had bad luck in the crash because his leg got caught in ‘Pecco’s’ tire.” The Italian attributes such accidents to several factors.

“You get there so fast. Then the winglets and the quick start procedure, where the front tire is not yet up to temperature. You arrive, brake, get sucked in by the aerodynamics.”

“The motorcycle doesn’t decelerate well when you ride behind other motorcycles,” Marini shares the same assessments that were already heard from the riders after the start accident on Saturday. “Anything can happen.”

Bagnaia thinks Zarco did nothing wrong: “Something was strange with his motorcycle because he started braking earlier, but the motorcycle didn’t stop. So something happened.”

Some riders spoke out in favor of moving the starting line in Barcelona closer to the first corner in the future. Then the motorcycles would arrive at corner 1 at the start at a slightly lower speed.

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