JOHANN ZARCO will undergo wrist surgery after suffering a broken bone in a horror 200mph crash in Sunday’s MotoGP race.
Many observers pointed the finger at the Frenchman after he tangled with Petronas SRT racer Franco Morbidelli at Red Bull Ring.
Having overtaken Morbidelli, Zarco began to brake at the Turn 3 hairpin and was immediately taken out by the Italian, who felt he was helpless to avoid the incident and lambasted his rival post-race.
Not only were the pair sent sprawling off the track, their bikes hurtled down the straight and very nearly wiped out both Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi.
Despite walking away from the crash, Zarco confirmed to L’Equipe that he will require a procedure on a broken scaphoid bone in his right wrist.
He is quoted by Autosport as saying: “It’s a classic procedure, with the placement of a screw to fix the broken bone.
“I will be back in Austria on Thursday morning for a medical check-up to see whether or not I am able to ride this weekend for the second race organised at the Red Bull Ring.”
Both Morbidelli and Rossi made clear their anger at Zarco’s part in the crash having narrowly escaped serious injury.
The Ducati rider has attempted to explain away the blame and insisted that it was a racing incident.
He said post-race: “I overtook Morbidelli in the straight and then in the moment I had to brake he touched me and he was surprised.
“He was thinking that I went super wide, but I wasn’t much more wide than what I normally do.
“I didn’t want to do it on purpose, but now that we have spoken together they understood.
“It’s because of the speed. In the moment that I braked, I was in his slipstream, we touched, and we had no control and we crashed.
“Then the worst thing was that my bike could have destroyed Valentino.”
Both Morbidelli and Rossi have spoken in private with Zarco to clear the air, the 30-year-old has stated.
Having met Zarco in the medical centre, Morbidelli later fumed about the incident on Italian TV.
The 25-year-old exclaimed: “He’s half a killer.
“I’m fine, but it was very dangerous. For me and for him, but also for Valentino and Maverick who saw a bike come in their faces at 280km/h.
“I’m sorry because I wasn’t able to do anything. The moment I started braking, Zarco changed trajectory, perhaps to protect himself.
“When he went towards the outside, I was sucked into his slipstream. Braking like this, at 300km/h, means having little love for those who are racing with you.”
Likewise, MotoGP veteran Rossi lamented how drivers are becoming increasingly aggressive.
He said: “It was so scary. It was terrifying. We have to pray to somebody, everybody has to pray to he who decides.
“But, f***. I feel bad. I was scared, very much. Because today was very dangerous.
“You try to not think about it, but it’s really difficult, and even now it’s not easy. I spoke to my girlfriend already, she is destroyed!”
