MotoGP: Maverick Vinales forced to leap from bike at 210km/h

MotoGP continues to serve up spectacular crashes. This week it was Maverick Vinales hitting the eject button before his bike burst into flames.

Maverick Vinales rounds the bend during the MotoGP of Styria. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images)

MotoGP star Maverick Vinales was forced to leap off his Yamaha bike at 210km/h in Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix after its brakes failed.

Vinales was forced to bail with 12 laps to go at Spielberg before his machine then ploughed into the air-fence and burst into flames.

Despite the drama, Vinales, 25, walked away unharmed.

“Luckily I’m OK, he said. “Today’s crash was amazing. I never had that feeling before, where I completely lose the brakes and have to jump off.

“I understand how it happened, the brakes overheated, but for sure it’s not a common problem.

“Luckily, I’m okay. This is the most important thing. I will be 100 per cent fit again (for the next race) in Misano.”

Maverick Vinales hit the eject button.

The incident brought out the red flags with the race eventually restarting over 12 laps and won by Portugal’s Miguel Oliveira on a KTM Tech-3.

Vinales’s daredevil high-speed escape came just seven days after he and teammate Valentino Rossi narrowly avoided serious injury when two rogue bikes crossed their paths at around 300km/h at the same circuit.

“Fortunately, Maverick was able to jump off the bike in time, it was a very scary moment,” said Rossi, who finished ninth.

“In these last two weekends we were on the limit with the brakes.”

— AFP

Originally published as MotoGP: Maverick Vinales forced to leap from bike at 210km/h