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A race car veered off the track and crashed into a crowd of spectators and race officials during an event in the town of Diyatalawa, Sri Lanka, on Sunday, killing seven people and injuring 20 others, officials told Bharatha Mallawarachi of the Associated Press.
The cause of the crash remains unclear. The report noted that 45,000 spectators were in attendance at the race circuit at a Sri Lankan military academy for the Fox Hill Supercross event, which was organized by the Sri Lankan army and Sri Lanka Automobile Sports.
Police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa said four officials were among the seven killed when the race car crashed into the crowd. He added that of the 20 being treated at the hospital, three were in critical condition.
The race was suspended following the accident, which occurred during the 17th out of 24 events scheduled. Thalduwa said police have opened an investigation into the crash.
Diyatalawa is located about 110 miles east of the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo.
Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso grabbed victory in the 2017 MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday after holding off Honda's Marc Marquez in a fantastic battle.
The two men moved to the front of the pack midway through the race, and both led at certain stages of the contest. However, the Italian eventually did enough, taking his third win of a fascinating season.
Honda's Dani Pedrosa was third, recovering from eighth on the grid, while Yamaha's Valentino Rossi was a disappointing seventh.
The result actually sees Marquez extend his championship lead to 16 points, with Dovizioso moving up into second place ahead of Maverick Vinales, who was sixth at the Red Bull Ring.
It was Jorge Lorenzo who got off to the fastest start, moving ahead of Marquez into first place. Vinales, meanwhile, ran wide at Turn 1 and lost time on his rivals.
Things were extremely tight at the front of the field, though, as we can see courtesy of the MotoGP Twitter feed:
Dovizioso and Marquez were engaged in a gripping battle for second spot. The former was able to edge past the Spaniard, although he couldn't maintain position, with the Honda man wrestling the spot back; that would prove to be the theme of the afternoon.
With both men going flat out, they moved up on to the back of Lorenzo up front, who was beginning to lose grip in the soft tyres. Marquez and Dovizioso were able to pass him as a result, although a blanket still could have been tossed over the front six.
As we can see here, courtesy of journalist Simon Patterson, the trio of leaders were three abreast at times:
Having moved to the front, for the first time in the race, Marquez and Dovizioso were able to put some daylight between themselves and the rest of the field.
Further back, the perils of a tight race caught up with Rossi, who made an almost identical error to Yamaha team-mate Vinales at Turn 1. That pushed him back down into seventh and a long way away from a podium finish.
Up front, Lorenzo was going backwards quickly as Pedrosa took third, while Dovizioso continued to pressure Marquez; eventually it told, as the Spaniard made an error at Turn 3, allowing the Ducati man through:
That move was the trigger for a brilliant scrap between the pair, with Marquez retaking and then surrendering the lead. The duo then exchanged places a couple more times, as they pushed their respective bikes to the limit of the circuit.
As the laps ticked down, Dovizioso was able to find some consistency at the head of the race, and Marquez became increasingly desperate in his moves, making some mistakes as a result. But he was in a position good enough to launch one last desperate attack on the final corner, as we can see:
Dovizioso was alert to the danger, though, keeping his cool to win for the third time in 2017. The VR|46 Vanguard INA Twitter account praised the Ducati men's effort on the final lap:
While Marquez extends his lead with this win, Dovizioso offered a reminder that he's a rider with the talent to win this world title.
This victory, and especially the manner of it, will give him a lot of confidence in the weeks to come. It's imperative the Italian continues to apply pressure at the British Grand Prix in a fortnight's time.
It's as fortunate as it is amazing that no one was seriously injured here.
During a Moto2 race in Spain on Sunday, one rider, Xavier Cardelus, spun off his bike, which rolled into the middle of the track.
As the other competitors swerved around it, one ran over the gas tank, triggering a massive explosion that looked like it was straight out of a TV show.
According to Fox Sports' Samuel Reiman (via the Daily Telegraph), the race eventually restarted, but Cardelus was unable to continue since his bike was ruined.
Supercross rider Weston Peick did not take kindly to being knocked off his bike by fellow racer Vince Friese.
The pair were competing in a 2016 Monster Energy Supercross event when Friese caused an ugly crash after repeatedly clipping the back of Peick's bike.
Unsurprisingly, Peick was not happy, and he responded by throwing a flurry of punches at his opponent before pushing him out of bounds.
Peick was later disqualified for his actions—which can't have done his temper any good.
[YouTube: Speed - Motors on Fox, h/t Vice Sports, Deadspin]
The 2014 MotoGP season has been thrown open after starlet and reigning world champion Marc Marquez broke his right leg in a training accident.
According to Scott Mitchell of Autosport.com, the 2013 debutant will miss the upcoming second test at Sepang, and the test at Phillip Island the following week is also in doubt:
It's a disappointing spin on Marquez's preparation for what will be just his second campaign in MotoGP, while Honda will undoubtedly be frustrated with its rider's injury.
With that being said, Mitchell does go on to add that the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix is still a realistic comeback date for the youngster.
Dr. Xavier Mir, of Barcelona's Universitario Quiron Dexeus hospital, operated on Marquez's leg and said, per Mitchell, "The results showed no ligament damage or dislocation and no need to proceed with surgery. I expect he will need three to four weeks to fully recover."
Mitchell also quotes Marquez as saying, "It was a really unfortunate accident that could happen to anyone at any time. I was rushed to hospital and Dr. Mir treated me, thankfully there was no ligament damage and it seems like a clean break."
It's a remarkable recovery estimation given that one might think a clean break to be the sort of injury that rules out a rider for months at the least, but Marquez can be hopeful about salvaging his title defence.
As David Cushnan of SportsPro attests, it's far from the ideal way to head into what was promising to be another productive year:
Last year, the 21-year-old took the MotoGP world by storm, beating Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo to the No. 1 finish by just three points in the driver standings.
The distance between the two progressively lessened as Marquez's form tailed off toward the end of the term while Lorenzo's improved, but 16 podium finishes from a possible 18, including six victories, laid the path to glory.
Eyes will now also turn to Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, who will be expected to shoulder a great deal of responsibility in bringing the manufacturer more success should Marquez be unable to start the season in Qatar.
The 2013 Czech Republic Grand Prix represents one of the integral points of the 2013 MotoGP season.
Brno is a historic motor sport venue and played host to races since the 1930s before the official circuit was constructed in the 1980s.
The 2013 edition of the race features big names like Alex Rins and Cal Crutchlow. Both are strong candidates to win in the Czech Republic before moving on to the British Grand Prix at the start of September.
Here are the names who figure to emerge from the race victorious after practice runs.
Note: All info courtesy of Moto GP's official website.
Moto3: Alex Rins
Alex Rins made his debut in the Moto3 World Championship back in 2012 and has never looked back. The Spaniard has taken the world by storm—and he is only 17 years of age.
Rins has won three races in Moto3 so far this year, and has won the last two in a row.
Now Rins is looking to dominate at Brno. He's off to a hot start to say the least. Bins took his third pole of the season in qualifying with a time of 2:07.622—over a half second faster than all other racers.
Rins is easily the favorite as he continues to make things look simple on the track. Expect nothing less than a victory Sunday.
Moto2: Takaaki Nakagami
Earlier this year, Takaaki Nakagami competed at Le Mans and earned his first pole position in Grand Prix racing.
Fast forward to Brno, and Nakagami at 21 years of age has two pole positions to his name.
Interestingly enough, Nakagami made the first two podium appearances of his career this year as well, the second coming more recently at Indianapolis.
Nakagami was just as impressive as Rins in the qualifier at Brno, finishing a full 0.4 seconds faster than any other racer. He may not be as young as Rins, but he's having a breakout year and could very well be on his way to stardom as well.
MotoGP: Cal Crutchlow
Cal Crutchlow is not like the other favorites to win at Brno. He's 27 years old and has been down the path of success more than once. He has bounced around in prestigious tournaments such as the British Superbike Championship before bringing his talents to MotoGP.
Saturday at Brno, Crutchlow captured his second ever pole in Moto GP with a record-breaking time of 1:55.527.
The time left Crutchlow 0.2 seconds in front of the rest of the field and placed him in contention to win the race. Last year's winner at Brno, Dani Pedrosa, is lurking behind Crutchlow after qualifying for the second row.
Regardless of pole position, Cructhlow would have been a favorite. He has raced professionally since 2003 and molds that experience into a serious advantage when MotoGp at Brno gets underway.
Follow B/R's Chris Roling on Twitter for more news and analysis @Chris_Roling
