Aussie sidelined as he recuperates from Red Bull Ring crash
LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP has confirmed that Senna Agius will sit out this weekend’s Balaton Park MotoGP round to continue his recovery from a heavy lap-one crash at the Red Bull Ring. Senna was sat up by another rider on the exit of Turn 2 on the first lap, causing him to fall, with Alonso Lopez (SpeedRS Boscoscuro) then running over him in an ugly collision. The team says he avoided serious injury and will be given time to recuperate, with a planned return at the following round in Catalonia, pending medical clearance.
“Lucky to be walking away today, relatively okay after a scary crash on lap one,” Agius wrote on social media. “Time to Recover to get back on it soon.”
With Agius sidelined, 22-year-old Sergio Garcia will step in on the team’s Kalex. Garcia raced with MT Helmets MSi until Mugello and now has another chance to make his mark at world level.
Intact GP’s Austrian weekend was doubly costly when debris from Agius’ crash punctured Manuel Gonzalez’s radiator, forcing him to retire despite strong pace. “Unfortunately, things didn’t go as we had hoped in the Moto2 race for our team here at the Red Bull Ring,” said Intact GP team manager Jurgen Lingg. “Senna crashed through no fault of his own and hit his head quite hard. The most important thing is that he is conscious and doing well so far. We hope he recovers as quickly as possible, because the next race is already in a week. The irony of the situation is that Manu picked up a stone from Senna’s crash, which damaged the radiator and forced him to retire from the race. Even though something like this happens very rarely, it’s still annoying. So, we have to take the positives, because it could have been worse. Senna is doing well under the circumstances and hopefully he will be able to ride again soon. Manu, on the other hand, had a strong pace and nothing is lost yet due to the retirement. We continue to lead the championship. Hopefully luck will be on our side again next weekend. But sometimes you can’t control everything. Nevertheless, it must be said that our guys are doing an incredibly good job and are very competitive.”
The series now heads to the all-new Balaton Park Circuit in Hungary, a narrow, twisty layout expected to challenge both bikes and riders. Gonzalez, who surrendered only six points to closest rival Aron Canet with his DNF, will aim to steady his title push and limit the Fantic Racing rider’s gains.
In Moto3, David Muñoz arrives buoyed by a strong showing in Styria, while rookie Guido Pini continues his learning curve and confidence-building on the Magyar track. At the Red Bull Ring, Diogo Moreira took victory ahead of Daniel Holgado and Celestino Vietti.
Agius sits ninth in the riders’ standings with one win to his name at Silverstone.
