Rider dangles off bike in wet Craner slip, world holds its breath...
Alessandro Delbianco shows nerves and balls of steel in what could possibly be the save of the century...
STEEP, flowing but destructive when you get it wrong, the Craner Curves is one of the most exciting corners on any British motorbike racing venue.
However, get it wrong and you know about it... as Josh Elliott found out to expensive cost earlier this year when he chucked it into the scenery in spectacular style earlier this year!
Craner Curves is a big challenge in the dry to get just right but in the wet it can be the difference between pole position and a very expensive repair job - as Alex Lowes pointed out on Friday, even little crashes at Craner Curves are big crashes!
World Superbike Championship rider Alessandro Delbianco showed us what is possible with nerves of steel after getting a wiggle on during the very wet first race of the weekend at Donington Park, the young Italian with no time to correct brewing high-side without having to straight line and head off track onto the saturated grass... alone that should have been enough for Delbianco to come crashing down.
More than that though, the wet grass is not flat there AND he was doing it with both legs dangling over one side of the Honda and clinging onto the handlebars. Surely, a disaster waiting to happen?
However, the cool Delbianco stays away from the brakes, hauls himself back into the seat and keeps the bike pointing straight. As we watch on expecting the front to fold any moment, Delbianco calmy rejoins the race at the loss of just two positions.
Remarkably, he not only recovered from this wild moment - which drew applause up and down the pit lane - but he worked himself right back into contention, clawing his way back to ninth position at the finish for his best-ever WorldSBK result.
