Alex Rins has revealed how he broke his arm in a cycling accident while riding on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, admitting to the media that he hit a van while he was distracted by sending a text.
The Spaniard was forced to miss his home event after picking up the injury the day before track action was due to get underway with official communications at the time suggesting he had hurt himself in a fall while training.
However, ahead of his German MotoGP comeback at the Sachsenring this weekend, the Suzuki rider admits he was sending an ‘important message’ when he hit a van.
Accepting fault in the incident, Rins says it should be a lesson to him because while the impact with the stationary van certainly dealt a blow to him, he says he could have just easily hit another person, which would have been significantly worse.
“Yeah, for sure, as you say the truth is this,” he told reporters. ”I crashed there because I was sending an important message.
“For sure we need to stay off of our phones because also when we are driving and I’m including [myself], always we took the phone to see the time, to send a message and if you pay attention to the phone you don’t pay attention to the other cars or to the street.
“For sure, it’s hard. I prefer to hit the van, as I did, than to hit a person. So, imagine if there are guys painting and the van was not there? It would be even worse. So, this is a clear example [of the dangers].”
Rins didn’t initially believe his arm was broken but took himself to hospital having remounted on his bicycle and rode to his motorhome. However, on arrival to the hospital he realised he may have suffered a more serious injury.
“When I hit the van, I stand up and there was one guy there and he gave me a bottle of water, I cleaned a bit the leg, the foot that I had some blood on.
“When I saw the arm in that moment it was not so bad. My left hand, I broke it in 2015 the same [bone], the radius, doing flat track.
“When I crashed [in 2015] I stood up, I took the bike and I make two laps, then I say ‘I’m ok, but feeling a bit of pain’. So, I drove to the hospital. Exactly the same as in Montmelo.
“After the crash I took the bicycle, I cycled till my motorhome without phone – the phone was already broken, the screen.
“I go to the hospital and when I was arriving I saw the hand with a lot of liquid on the higher part of the hand and I was feeling maybe something a bit important [was broken].
“Doctor [Xavier] Mir and his team gave me the option of four weeks with the cast and start to recover or be operated and in one week start to move.
“For sure, I’m a rider and I want to be on the bike as soon as possible. So, I took the fastest option.”
Rins’ injury time-out came at a crucial moment for his season after a dismal run of form that has seen him show positive pace but a catalogue of errors having crashed in each of the four races prior to the Catalunya MotoGP he was forced to withdraw from.
