Riders losing the front and falling under braking for the first chicane at Le Mans is nothing new.
But Karel Abraham and Joan Mir were sent sliding into the gravel even before Sunday's French MotoGP even started!
The pair were caught out on the warm-up lap, Abraham hitting the ground first - his bike then clipping home star Johann Zarco - with Mir making an identical mistake moments later.
"On the warm-up lap I went straight and I fell. I think that behind me Joan Mir also went to the ground. It has been all very strange," Abraham said. "Now my back and head hurts because of the fall. I’m disappointed and really upset because I knew we could get a couple of points in this race. Instead we leave with a big zero again.”
Abraham had tried to start the race on his spare Avintia Ducati, but was black flagged for exiting pit lane after the leader had crossed the finish line at the end of the first lap.
Bizarre scenes! @Joanmir36 and @Karel_Abraham17 are down on the warm-up lap!#FrenchGP pic.twitter.com/PsbTAy230H
— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) May 19, 2019
Mir did at least get back out in time to complete the race on his spare Suzuki, but finished a lap down in 16th and last.
"What happened on the warm-up lap was a shame," said the rookie. "I think the tyre was cold, I didn’t brake too hard or too early, but I lost the front.
"I crashed four times this weekend and we have to look into why that happened. I don’t feel that I over-pushed at any time, but when I can figure out why I crashed. I can hopefully learn something from it. I’ll look forward to the Italian GP."
