October 26, 2016

 

Gino Rea’s recent run of bad fortune has brought his 2016 World Supersport campaign to a premature conclusion following a 100mph collision with a fallen bike. The incident occurred during Friday's free practice session at last weekend's Spanish round at Jerez.  

 

Gino started the weekend strongly, running as top MV, however his progress was drastically halted when PTR rider Hikari Okubo crashed in front of him exiting the fast Ferrari turn 12. Rea had to take immediate action in order to avoid hitting Hikari, sending him into the path of the fallen bike. Gino hit the PTR machine at over 100mph catapulting him over the handlebars and into the gravel pit. Rea took a hard impact to the head before tumbling through the gravel and into the armco barrier. The Londoner was fortunate to come away with only 3 broken metacarpal bones in his left hand however will not ride at the Qatar season finale following surgery last Wednesday.

 

Gino comments:
“I am extremely lucky to come away from that crash walking; as is Hikari. When I saw him slide off his bike the first thing I tried to do was avoid hitting him because if I did, it could have ended very, very nastily at them speeds. In avoiding Hikari, I had to go to his left which was on the gravel and his bike was sideways in front of my path. I couldn’t even slow down and I just smashed straight into it. It was such a fast crash yet it feels like it happened in slow motion. I looked at the bike and just thought ‘sh*t, this is going to hurt’. I hit it and as I was tumbling through the gravel I was like ‘yep this hurts’. I ended up against the armco, so I rested against it and tried to get my breath back as I was badly winded. I’d say it was a bigger and scarier crash than the one last year at Magny-Cours, mainly because of the speed and knowing what was coming. I feel so lucky to only break my hand with a few bruises on my body. I owe thanks to my protection sponsors, HJC Helmets, Damen Leathers, Impact Safe-T Armor, Gaerne Boots and Armadillo Merino. 

 

“I will miss Qatar because the 3 broken metacarpals were quite bad and needed surgery. Mike Hayton did a fantastic job of repairing them so now I’ll focus on securing a competitive ride in 2017 and recovering in the winter period. I’ll be back stronger!”

 

“Thank you to everyone for your support during 2016 and especially my personal sponsors who have made this year possible.” 

Follow Gino on social media- Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.

Gino thanks:
Moran Construction UK LTD
Jap4Performance
Damen Leathers
HJC Helmets
Waggy Tails
One Step At A Time Charity 
Gaerne Boots
Lilac Park Homes
Garnell Nutrition

Photo credit: Nacho Fuu

 

Follow Gino on social media- Twitter: @GinoRea, Instagram: @GinoRea4, Snapchat: Gino_Rea and Facebook: @GinoRea.Page