Superheroes don’t wear capes, they ride bikes

MOST journalists get smiling welcomes to events they are covering. Not so in motorsports. Instead, they have to sign an indemnity and waiver form first.

The form says the organisers won’t be held liable for any mishap or unfortunate incidents that may happen during the event.

It’s a sobering reminder of how dangerous the sport is.

Last Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix was a prime example. The Red Bull Ring came close to seeing a double tragedy.

First, there was the dramatic crash of our own Malaysian rider Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah whose Moto2 bike slammed into Italian Enea Bastianini’s bike that was fallen in the middle of the track after turn 1.

Hafizh’s bike broke into two and he was lying on the track before stewards rushed to carry him away.

Minutes later, there was another terrifying moment when Frenchman Johann Zarco braked suddenly while overtaking Italian

Franco Morbidelli and abruptly cut into his path at a speed of more than 250kph.

Both bikes completely disintegrated and bounced out of control, turning into missiles that passed just a few inches from Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi.

Lives could have been lost that day. Rossi’s reaction as he put his hands on his head heading back to the pits after the race was redflagged was clear for all to see.

As a veteran with an illustrious career spanning 25 years, Rossi has seen almost everything. On that day, he was unnerved.

“It was very, very scary. The scariest experience I’ve gone through,” he reflected later.

“All four riders, but especially me and Maverick, we were very lucky. We have to pray to somebody tonight. Because the situation was very dangerous. I think that it’s good to be aggressive for sure, everyone is trying their maximum, but for me we don’t have to exaggerate.

“Because we need to remember this sport is very dangerous. You need to have respect for your rivals, especially at a track where you go 300kph.”

Rossi certainly has nerves of steel. He gathered himself together, returned to race mode and finished fifth as the leading Yamaha rider.

What he said is a testament to every MotoGP rider’s ability to go back out and ride the wheels off their sleek machines after an incident like that.

In my opinion, they are the closest things we have to superheroes.