The FIM EWC F.C.C. TSR Honda team has finally published a fairly extensive report with official data on exactly what happened on the qualifying day of the Suzuka 8 Hours with their pilot Gino Rea, and in what condition the Londoner is now.
A big accident occurred on the qualification day of the Suzuka 8H in practice, PRECEDING the qualification of the TOP-10 Trial (a kind of Superpole). It was because of Gino’s accident that the qualification itself was postponed, and then canceled with the justification “due to the condition of the track.” It was the condition of the track that led to the crash of the F.C.C. TSR Honda Pilot. As a result, the Directorate decided to replace the qualifying sprint with a 40-minute full-fledged qualifying session, during which the pilot of the factory team HRC won.
What happened
Gino Rea almost became a follower of the infamous Daijiro Kato: due to a spill of some liquid before the turn, after the rain, which aggravated the condition of the canvas, the British racer flew off the track at full speed and crashed into a bump. This happened almost in the same place where on April 6, 2003, at the start of the Japanese MotoGP Grand Prix race, a Japanese man was fatally injured – on the outside of the exit from the Casino Triangle chicane.
In 2003, an investigation revealed that due to the insufficient depth of the safety zone, the speed at which Daijiro’s motorcycle reached the bump exceeded 180 km/h. A half-meter block of glass wool separating the concrete wall from the track did not save the Honda RC211V from complete destruction. Kato suffered injuries to his back, cervical spine, and head, and died without regaining consciousness a few days later.
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Gino Rea took off for the same reason as Kato: at the exit, his rear wheel tore off, as a result of the high side, uncontrolled wobbling began, and the pilot instantly left the trajectory and rammed the fences. When he collided with them, he suffered serious chest and head injuries, as the rider was then covered by a fallen motorcycle.
Current condition
For two days, the team and the organizers of Suzuka 8 Hours remained completely silent. Gino Rea was evacuated unconscious from Suzuki to one of the leading clinics in Mie Prefecture, where he underwent two urgent operations. All this time, the pilot was unconscious, and in order to stabilize the processes, he was put into an artificial coma and transferred to a ventilator.
As the team reported on Monday evening, the doctors gave the first positive signal: in order for Rea to begin rehabilitation, he will soon be brought out of an artificial coma; Japanese doctors believe that the crisis has passed, but there is a long rehabilitation process ahead.
Rea’s friend, former BSB racer Terry Rymer, is in touch with Gino’s wife, who confirmed the first good news: “I just received good news about Gino: the hospital said that tomorrow he can be transferred from the ventilator to the normal mode – he is recovering, his temperature has returned to normal. They cannot yet say exactly how long it will take to recover, but the fact is that he is strong and will soon be on the mend.”