IN PICS: Rossi and Vinales’ frightening Austrian MotoGP near-miss

The 2020 Austrian MotoGP is set to become a race that will go down in infamy not only for the frightening incident that’d befall Franco Morbidelli, Johann Zarco, Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales at the Red Bull Ring, but also for the lucky escape the quartet all managed.

An incident that has grabbed headlines around the world as numerous angles on television replays reveal just how close Rossi and Vinales especially were to being caught up in a much more serious accident, it’s a stark reminder of the risk that comes with motorcycle racing.

Mercifully, Rossi and Vinales escaped unhurt after Morbidelli’s Yamaha and Zarco’s Ducati catapulted across them as they rounded the tight Turn 3 left-hander, while Morbidelli and Zarco also got away with cuts and bruises from the violent impact that kick-started the chain of events.

This sequence of images showing Morbidelli’s Petronas SRT Yamaha spiralling towards the apex were captured by one of the eagle-eyed photographers stationed at the Red Bull Ring and they emphasise just how close Rossi and Vinales were to being caught up in a ferocious incident – a fact not lost on Yamaha MotoGP boss Massimo Meregalli.

“We’d watched a very serious accident happen in Moto2 earlier today, and the incident in Turn 3 in the MotoGP race rivalled it. These were both heart-in-the-mouth moments for all spectators, but especially for the riders. We are so thankful that all riders involved are relatively okay.”

“We were very lucky, this is the most important, added Vinales. "We're good. These things can happen in races, there's always that risk.

“I didn't see anything, honestly. I just heard the scratching sound of crashed bikes and then I felt the impact of Johann's bike hitting the wall. Then, when I looked, I saw one bike coming towards me and I covered my head and the bike jumped up. For sure we were very lucky today, someone saved us, and this is the most important.”