After checking with knowledgeable sources at Honda and KTM, we have more details about the LACR crash that seriously injured KTM’s Donovan Mitchell. The accident occurred during the first lap of the pro race, with the leaders tightly bunched. Ernesto Fonseca (Yamaha) was leading when his bike kicked sideways off a jump, causing him to fall. This was a relatively high speed section of the track, and the other pro riders were in hot pursuit. Apparently, a flagman would not have made a difference (although we’re still asking questions about this issue).
Several riders clipped Fonseca’s bike or body as they landed on the other side of the jump. A pile up ensued, with three riders injured badly enough to require a helicopter trip to the hospital. Those riders were Donovan Mitchell (KTM), Rodrig Thain (KTM), and Ernesto Fonseca. Mitchell was seriously injured, as reported yesterday, and suffers from some paralysis. Thain and Fonseca were released from the hospital fairly quickly. Thain is badly bruised, but has no broken bones, while Fonseca’s condition is not known by MD, but not considered to be any more serious than a broken collarbone.
Retired National champions Rick Johnson and Jeff Ward were also in the race. Johnson suffered a broken thumb, while Ward luckily missed the pileup and was uninjured.
Several other riders suffered minor injuries.
We did receive e-mail from a reader who crashed on the same jump several weeks ago and, coincidentally, had his bike landed on by three other riders, all of whom were taken to the hospital. He considers the track to be dangerous and indicates that no flagger was monitoring this jump at the time.
KTM advises that cards and letters may be sent to Donovan Mitchell at the following address: KTM Sport Motorcycle, Attention Donovan Mitchell, 930 Fesler, El Cajon, California 92020.
