Toprak Razgatlioglu's weekend at Magny-Cours ended earlier than expected. In fact, due to a crash in FP2, the Turkish rider was forced to raise the white flag due to the minor pneumothorax injury he suffered.
In the aftermath of the crash, Marc Bongers took stock of the situation regarding the health condition of the 54-year-old. Intercepted in the morning, BMW's Superbike manager tried to shed some light.
"Certainly the FIM needs to review that corner where Toprak ended up on the ground," he began, "Already in the past there has been talk about the safety of that wall, but obviously I am not here to make controversy because what matters is Toprak's health condition. His was a major accident and he was lucky in the impact, although he still sustained injuries and was declared unfit. Today Toprak will undergo further tests so that we will have a definitive picture of the situation even though there are no apparent fractures."
What is the recovery time? There are three races in this month of September.
"From a calendar point of view the situation is critical because there is Cremona and Aragon close together. Obviously we wish him the best in his recovery without having to force the time and rush him. When he is 100 percent fit, we will be here."
Will we see him in Cremona?
"I hope he will return to Cremona, but at the moment we still don't know if he will be there. As I said today we will do new examinations. Fortunately, there don't seem to be any fractures, and that reassures us. Certainly the airbag made a difference in containing the impact."
Marc, initially the situation did not seem so worrisome.
"Yes, because the adrenaline masked it as well as the absence of fractures. But then the tests showed the problem. What matters is Toprak's health and we are here waiting for him."