Scott: ‘It’s down to blind luck’
Ten days later, it’s possible to consider the strange feeling of relief in the aftermath of the death of Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier at Mugello.
Thankfully, only one dead. The dread has been growing in Moto3, which seems exponentially closer and more reckless every weekend. Gangs of 15 or more circulate on the ragged edge within touching distance. TV commentators sometimes call these tactical battles “high-speed games of chess”. No. More like skittles. One down, and it’s pure chance if he doesn’t take several more with him. It happens often. It did this weekend, too. Then it’s down to blind luck. Tragically at Mugello the Swiss teenager’s luck ran out. He was hit by at least one rider. This is how most fatalities occur. Of the past four in GP racing – Tomizawa (2010), Simoncelli (2011), Salom (2016) and Dupasquier (2021), three were because the rider was struck by following bikes. The one thing the safety equipment cannot mitigate. Racing is incredibly safe nowadays. This is thanks to better protective clothing and medical attendance.
Most of all, it’s thanks to safer tracks – the worst abandoned, others subject to enforced modifications: revised layouts, more run-off, air-fences ... first from rider pressure, and recently thanks to the rigour of Dorna. The World Championship death toll fell sharply after the Isle of Man TT was dropped in 1976. Wikipedia names 104 victims (sidecars included). From 1949 to 1958, 31 deaths. The next decade – 25; and 27 the next. An annual average of almost three. When the victim’s a teenager, every parent must share the grief. Condolences go without saying. Should young daredevils – their teenage brains not yet equipped with risk-averse strategies – be protected from themselves? Well, in truth they’re better off in bike racing than solo tomb-stoning, after-dark parkour, base-jumping… There was inevitably a lot of posturing on that dark race Sunday – dedications and postrace pointing at the sky… probably comforting and definitely sincere. As often, it was Sunday’s race winner Miguel Oliveira whose heart-felt but matter-of-fact comment summed it up best: “I wish this sport could not be so cruel… but it is our passion.”
‘The sport is cruel but it is our passion’