Spanish Moto GP racer Alex Marquez suffered what turned out to be a broken neck after a brutal crash that left fans and pundits seriously concerned for his health.
Marquez, who is the brother of Moto GP legend Marc, crashed into the back of leader Pedro Acosta, who was out in front at the Catalunya Grand Prix after 12 laps of 24.
His bike lost power on the straight, and he had tried to warn riders behind him, but Marquez was left with no time to react.
He crashed into the back of the KTM and he and his bike headed for the wall before cartwheeling through the air.
Marquez was immediately attended to by paramedics as the race was halted, before it was eventually restarted later.
After assessment at hospital, it was confirmed that he had suffered a ‘marginal fracture’ of the C7 vertebra in his neck and a broken collarbone.
Alex Marquez suffered a brutal crash in Sunday’s MotoGP race that saw him break his neck
The Spanish rider crashed into an opponent and was thrown into a wall with the race stopped
He shared a photo from his hospital bed on Sunday night, which featured him wearing a neck brace with his thumb up.
Marquez wrote: ‘Everything’s under control. I have to go into surgery tonight, but I couldn’t be in better hands. Thank you all so much for your concern and for all the kind messages I’m receiving.’
He had been set to undergo collarbone surgery at Hospital General de Catalunya on Sunday, with further assessment on his neck injury required.
At the restart, former Moto2 champion Johann Zarco crashed and was also taken to hospital, which resulted in a second red flag of the race.
Fabio Di Giannantonio, who was hit by debris in the first crash, was able to recover to win.
Marquez had won the sprint race on Saturday and was hopeful of success on Sunday too.
But things didn’t work out that way, and it was later confirmed he was conscious in hospital.
Speaking after the race, TNT Sports pundit Sylvain Guintoli said: ‘These types of crashes can be very dangerous when you have parts of bikes flying around the way Alex Marquez crashed.
‘We really hope that there’s nothing bad with Alex. Unfortunately, when you have odd crashes like this, when you have speed differences like this, this is where really serious things can happen, so fingers crossed. It’s one of those where you just hope for no bad news.’
