The Gran Premio Red Bull de España was one to remember for Philipp Oettl and his dad Peter, but it didn’t go to plan for Championship contenders Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3), Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Enea Bastianini (Leopard Racing). A huge crash at Turn 6 ended their races prematurely, as Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PrustelGP) now leads the World Championship heading to Le Mans.
Canet, who qualified P15, made a good start and was having a positive race, battling with the leading group throughout. Then, four laps from the end, a mistake heading into the Dry Sack Corner meant the Spaniard collided with Martin, who then unavoidably crashed into Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers Team) – who’d made his way up to P1 from 21st on the grid – and Bastianini.
The Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider reflected on his race, and the dramatic incident. “In the first part of the race the feeling was so good, but during the race we stayed in the positions 6,7,8,9, it’s a positive location to have a look at the last part of the race. Unfortunately, with four laps to go I have a big accident with Jorge Martin, Enea and Tony, obviously for the World Championship it’s a really bad result.”
Pole man Martin - who was searching for his third win of the season after a good weekend – was understandably disappointed with how the weekend had ended. “It was a pity because it was a really good weekend for us, we’ve been working so hard for the race, pushing all through practice, then in the race I was just trying to have fresh tyres for the end, really relaxed with the group.”
Then, four laps from the end, Martin was hit from behind. “Then I think it was the moment I was overtaking Enea and Arbolino to change the pace, that Canet pushed us to the gravel, it was a really big mistake and well, this is racing and we’ll try to be ready for Le Mans.”
The number 88 was taken to the medical centre after the collision, leaving with his right wrist in a cast. “We still have to wait for some medical checks because we have a lot of pain in the right hand, and hopefully I can arrive (in Le Mans) 100%.” Then, asked if he’d heard anything from race direction, Martin responded “I just hope they take care of the situation, also in Argentina he pushed Yurchenko out. Not just Canet but for everybody because Moto3™ is a dangerous category.”
Since then, race direction has announced that Canet will be starting from the back of the grid in Le Mans, making it a tough ask for the Spaniard to score solid World Championship points on French soil.
After trips to the medical centre later in the day, Arbolino and Martin were thankfully declared fit. Unfortunately, Bastianini was declared unfit after the race, being hit by Martin’s bike and then high siding. The good news is he looks set to be ok for Le Mans, as he aims to bounce back from a desperately unlucky Spanish GP.