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Honda rider Joan Mir has explained the crash that meant he missed the most recent race of the 2023 MotoGP season, elaborating to the media about what exactly went down in the somewhat-unseen fall in the Argentine Grand Prix sprint.
The crash, taking place on the opening lap of the sprint, had left Mir with a severe concussion and sidelined him for the main event.
Declared fit on Thursday for this weekend’s Grand Prix of the Americas, he cleared up what happened in the incident (which the cameras only caught the briefest instant of) – or at least did the best he could, admitting to having lost his memory of the fall.
“I don’t remember a lot,” the 2020 world champion said, “but when I watched the images and I spoke to the riders behind, it looks like [Fabio] Di Giannantonio went wide, he braked with [Alex] Rins and they went wide, and I kept inside. When they came back inside, bang, we touched and then I flew.
“I think that he didn’t see me, because it doesn’t make sense to have a contact like this. It’s true that if you go wide, [that contact can happen] like for example what happened in Jerez [in 2018] with [Jorge] Lorenzo, [Andrea] Dovizioso and [Dani] Pedrosa. This was similar and I was Pedrosa in this case!
When things go wrong… 😖
THAT moment from the #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/fgHTPOpxpZ
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 7, 2018
“Whose fault, I don’t know. I will say that when you go wide you have to look, but he can say that I knew he went wide. It’s debatable.”
For his part, Gresini Ducati rider Di Giannantonio said he was completely unaware until after the race that there had been such severe consequences to the bump he felt, instead simply chalking the move down to the sort of early-race contacts that in large part define the back of the MotoGP grid – a place regularly described by some of the participants as a jungle.
“I saw the images later,” the Italian told The Race. “I noticed a touch while I was riding, but I didn’t notice who it was because I was in front. Then when I finished the race, I told the team it was just a normal touch and they told me no, that Mir had crashed and that he was injured.
“I was sorry about what happened, but honestly I didn’t know anything about it. That corner is difficult, because you can overtake on the inside but usually you go to the outside and then come back in. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding of lines.”
While the head injury might have ruled him out of Sunday’s main event at Termas, Mir reckoned it hasn’t affected his chances too much for this weekend’s race at the Circuit of the Americas, with only mild physical effects continuing to linger after the crash.
“I was a little bit with a headache after the crash,” he explained, “for a couple of days, but I was step by step getting a little bit better. Now I just have bruises on all my body. It’s still black, and my ankle is still a little bit swollen.
“My impression is that for riding it will be OK, but I’ll need two laps to warm up. We will see. I was able to train during this week, obviously not with a bike but in the gym, and physically I am OK.
“The only thing that can happen is that when I put the leathers on, I feel it pushing [on my thigh]. Nothing is broken and this is the important thing, but I will have the bruise for two more weeks.”
