Silke Jasso
A wild crash with six laps to go in a World Superbikes race in Imola, Italy, could have ended so much worse for Northern Ireland’s Eugene Laverty over the weekend.
A video shows Laverty losing all control going around a turn and jumping off his bike at speeds as high as 120 mph, while his vehicle kept going, crashed into a wall and burst into flames.
As you can see, Laverty went flying.
According to Laverty, he was able to jump off his bike just in time after severing a brake line. He said doing this was not about “balls” but sheer necessity.
It doesn’t take balls to jump off at 200kph, all you need is a severed brake line and a fast approaching wall! https://t.co/CgKy6Qzqz7
— Eugene Laverty (@eugenelaverty) May 13, 2017
“It doesn’t take balls to jump off at 200kph, all you need is a severed brake line and a fast approaching wall!” he said.
Laverty would add later on that he’s already good to go but recognizes how lucky he was to walk away from this.
Horrible end to the race today but I count myself lucky to be able to walk away. Ready for race 2 @SMRWorldSBK ✊🏼 pic.twitter.com/84jQ3M8kkD
— Eugene Laverty (@eugenelaverty) May 13, 2017
“Horrible end to the race today but I count myself lucky to be able to walk away. Ready for race 2 @SMRWorldSBK✊?,” he tweeted.
To Laverty, you gotta get right back on the horse, or in this case, the motorcycle. Just not that motorcycle.
