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The Spanish MotoGP rider Pol Espargaró suffers a pulmonary contusion and several fractures after the serious accident suffered on Friday afternoon during the tests of the Portuguese Grand Prix.

In addition to the pulmonary contusion, Espargaró suffers "a fracture in the jaw and has a fractured dorsal vertebra," Dorna, organizer of the competition, announced on the MotoGP Twitter account.

The driver of the GasGas-Tech 3 team fell seriously on the track of Portimao (southern Portugal) in the second and last free practice session of the Portuguese GP, test with which the season starts.

Espargaro, 31, lost control of his motorcycle at high speed and crashed violently into a wall of tires. He was quickly treated by the emergency services and transferred to the circuit's medical center. He then traveled by helicopter to the hospital in Faro, less than 100 kilometers from the circuit.

The MotoGP doctor, Ángel Charte, pointed out that "in the cervical and neurological plane everything is going very well". "He hasn't lost consciousness and we haven't intubated him," he added.

"He is sedated and has no problem moving his feet, legs and arms, there is no reason to fear permanent spinal injury," he continued.

Aleix Espargaró, concerned about the absence of air defenses

The Spaniard Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia RS-GP), who finished in ninth position, showed his concern about the heavy fall suffered by his brother and the fact that in that area of the circuit and in many others of the Portuguese track there were no "air defenses" to protect the riders in their falls.

"I don't explain, I'm not the one who has to give this explanation, but with these bikes it goes very fast and there should be 'airfence' everywhere. You can not make the biggest circuits, because they are as they are, but the fall of Pol in turn 10 you reach the wall because you come from the 9, which is a very fast downhill corner", explained Espargaró, who indicates that he does it "with the limiter in fourth gear, because, with so much downforce, With so many wings, you fly in the middle of the curve with these bikes."

"The circuits, from straight to straight, fall short and the maximum speed is always the same because with so much downforce you do not exceed 350 or 360 km / h., but the problem is that we reach 280 or 300 km / h. in just 400 meters of straight, which means that there has to be 'airfence' everywhere. " insisted the Aprilia rider.

Pol Espargaro, brother of Aleix -fourth in the riders' championship in 2022-, signed this season for the GasGas team, which for the first time competes in MotoGP, associated with the Frenchman Tech3. With a Honda, he finished 16th overall last season.

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