A crash at a MotoGP race last week drew significant attention in the sport. Francesco Bagnaia became the victim of the horrible crash as a competing rider ran over his leg. It turns out that one other rider was not happy with the coverage of the crash.
Pol Espargaro voiced strong frustrations with the way that coverage of the crash was handled. According to Motorsport.com, “The Ducati rider’s crash was replayed 19 times before his true condition was known on the world feed, with the only info prior to his medical centre visit being that he was conscious at the scene of the incident.” The article also noted that the feed included live shots of the family and team.
Espargaro was unhappy, to say the least. He told Motorsport.com, “That is not correct, and I’m really pissed off with that, and it’s one of the topics I want to talk about in the safety commission because I have lived it. OK, to show the accident is bad, especially when we didn’t know how Pecco was.
“But to show the family… I don’t show my family on Instagram or social media. I hate it because I try to protect them from this [world],” he emphatically said.
Another ride, Fabio Quartararo, agreed with Espargaro that the on-air coverage was deplorable. “For me, it’s unacceptable. You can show it once, but int eh end, all the other guys are starting after. You put it one time on replay, but you need to think there are 20 other riders who need to restart, and it can happen to you. So, mentally it’s difficult, and you see one big crash. In the end, the rider is fine, but it can be much worse.”
Injury coverage in America has come under similar fires after terrible and gruesome injuries. The riders absolutely make a strong point that privacy and common decency should be put first and foremost. The rummaging that happens sometimes is out of hand, and in this case, it sure seemed like lines were both stepped on and crossed.
