Stoner slams safety following Tomizawa death
"The race should have been stopped, you could see from the television that this was a crash you couldn't walk away from"
FORMER MOTOGP World Champion Casey Stoner has spoken out over the death of Shoya Tomizawa - the popular Japanese racer killed in a crash at Misano during last weekend's Moto2 event.
Tomizawa, 19, died from multiple head and internal injuries after being struck by two bikes following his crash at one of the fastest parts of the circuit.
Stoner believes the race shoud have been stopped immediately, rather than allowed to continue, while marshals carried away (and dropped) a seriously injured Tomizawa.
"The race should have been stopped, you could see from the television that this was a crash you couldn't walk away from," Stoner told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Stoner went on to criticise modern track designs, saying huge run-off areas of tarmac often lulled racers into a false sense of security: "The extra tarmac gives everybody an invincible feeling that they can run-off and come straight back on," he said.
"It is ridiculous, riders become too confident and without fear they ride with too much confidence and things like this can happen.
"Grass is not the best thing but if it was real grass or real dirt people wouldn't push that far."
Authorities in Italy say trackside marshals could face manslaughter charges over the way Tomizawa was treated immediately after the crash. Despite being unconscious and seriously injured, marshals hurriedly scooped the Japanese rider onto a stretcher before dropping him when one of the carriers tripped over.
