Banai: I Was Dazed After Incident With Zarco, Maybe Shouldn't Have Restarted

• May 19, 2026 | 11:06

Francesco Bagnaia revealed that he was dazed following the incident involving him, Johann Zarco, and Luca Marini in the first turn during the first restart of the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix. The crash was caused when Zarco collided with Marini during the turn, and Bagnaia became an innocent casualty, as all three riders ended up on the ground in the safety zone. Zarco sustained the most serious injuries, with his left leg trapped in Bagnaia’s motorcycle, necessitating his transportation to a Barcelona hospital.

Bagnaia and Marini returned to the pits and joined the second restart with their reserve bikes. Bagnaia eventually crossed the finish line in fourth place but was classified third after Joan Mir was penalized, while Marini finished sixth after all sanctions were applied.

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"The impact with the ground was very intense, it was huge. The moment I saw my motor and how he (Zarco) was still attached to it, I just saw his leg and how much it hurt him. It was a huge blow for me,” Bagnaia said. “After that, I went back to the garage, got onto the second motor, and just tried not to think too much. I started, but after three laps, I began to feel dazed on the motorcycle. Every time I stopped, I felt like that. I needed to slow down because maybe I wasn't ready to compete, but everything went well in that respect and it didn't cause me big problems. I made it to the last lap, finished, and as soon as I got back to the garage, I didn't feel good. An X-ray was taken of my left ribcage after the race, but everything is fine, although I don't feel very well. The problem is in my throat. I felt dazed because of the neck strain. I took a hard impact in the throat. My neck muscles are tight, and that's why I feel the world is spinning."

Bagnaia also commented on the decision to have three restarts during the race. "As I’ve said many times, I have the luck of not having to make those decisions. But maybe we should have a rule that when there is a red flag due to an incident on the track, we shouldn’t have three restarts," stated the double world champion.

Images: Gettyimages