Johann Zarco was floored by a rival’s bike in a freak accident during Sunday’s MotoGP action.
French racer Zarco lost control at the Turn 6 Angel Nieto corner in Valencia and ended up in the gravel – and luck continued to elude the 29-year-old as he walked through the gravel trap.
With his back to the circuit, Zarco could not see Iker Lecuona also lose control, and he was in for a real shock seconds later.
Johann Zarco is wiped out by a bike coming into the gravel!
Lecuona’s KTM came flying towards Zarco along the floor of the gravel trap, catching Zarco unawares and flipping him over.
Video footage of the incident showed Zarco landing on the back of his neck, and he had to be stretchered away.
Thankfully, Zarco was pictured seemingly unhurt only a few minutes later.
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Marc Marquez secured victory in the Valencia GP to round out the season with his 12th win, finishing 1st in the riders’ standings by a stunning 164 points.
Lewis Hamilton’s sixth Formula One World Championship win has renewed discussions of whether he is the greatest driver of all time and Eddie Jordan has no doubt he now holds that title.
The Brit’s second-place finish in Austin on Sunday secured him a hat-trick of titles, and made the Mercedes driver world champion for five of the past six seasons.
Adding his inaugural title – won with McLaren in 2008 – Hamilton has now been world champion on six occasions – more times than legendary racers Alain Prost and Juan Manuel Fangio.
Only one driver, Michael Schumacher, now has more World Championships than Hamilton, though few are betting against the Brit drawing level with a seventh title next season, due to Mercedes’ current domination of the sport.
Whether he can break the German’s record after the 2021 regulation changes remains to be seen, and many of Hamilton’s critics say he cannot be judged as the greatest of all time until the changes come into effect and alter his superb Mercedes.
But Jordan believes Hamilton should already be regarded as far, far better than Schumacher, who made his F1 debut driving for Jordan’s team, Jordan Grand Prix, in 1991.
“Everyone has their own view on this, but I am of the view he’s already surpassed Michael,” Jordan told talkSPORT. “Michael started with me so there is a love affair there, but there is a situation some people may not fully grasp.
“At the time I handled people like [Rubens] Barrichello, [Eddie] Irvine, [Giancarlo] Fisichella and [Jean] Alesi, and every time we went to sign a contract with Michael Schumacher or Ferrari it always had conditions in it, where what we saw in Austin wouldn’t have been allowed to happen.
“Lewis, if he had in his contract the same things, he would have had to been able to pass [Valtteri] Bottas [to win the race].
“You can’t have that in a competitive sport, where one part of the team dictates to the other.
“For me, that is a flaw factor for Michael. Seven World Championships… how many would he have won if he hadn’t had the influence and support of the other people in the team?
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“And I’m not just talking about team members – I’m talking about the drivers.
“Lewis is already in a different league, in my opinion. He’s done it on his own.
“What he has done has brought great pride to his family and his people, and he can be justifiably proud.”
Hamilton is undeniably one of Britain’s most successful sportsmen, but he remains a divisive figure on these shores.
His supporters have long called for the 34-year-old to be knighted, and these calls have been renewed in the wake of his sixth World Championship win.
But does Jordan believe such an honour will be bestowed upon the Stevenage-born superstar?
He continued: “There is a panel who judge and pick these people, and they must know what is happening. There are also other very strong criteria in that selection process, like charitable work, what he’s done in the community, and what he’s done to bring on people less fortunate than him, and I am quite sure Lewis does do that.
“But it is going to be difficult for Lewis to do it while he is still competing. It is probably easier for a person who has retired.
“I’d like to see Lewis win another couple of World Championships, and then when he’s retired I’d like to see him do a lot of charitable work – which he will do, and already does do – which people don’t ever see.
“I can promise you I once brought a young kid to him and I never thought he would give him any time – he spent the whole weekend with him in Monaco! He looked after the kid who has since died, and Lewis knew that he had little time and he went out of his way.
“There is a lot Lewis does charitably behind the scenes, and I think the knighthood will come.
“But we must not push that. Let him win the Championships before you put too much extra pressure on him.”
Watch Eddie Jordan’s full interview with talkSPORT, above…
Sir Andy Murray and wife Kim Sears are celebrating as they welcomed their son into the world.
The two-time Wimbledon champion and his wife now have three children – daughters Sopia, 3, and Edie, 2, as well as their baby son, whose name has yet to be decided.
The baby is understood to have been born at a hospital in London, near the family home.
In an interview with the Scottish Sun, Sir Andy’s grandfather Roy Erskine said: “It’s a wee boy.
“He was born during the week, I don’t know what his name is yet. My wife is away down, she went down this morning.”
Naturally, one of the first things people will wonder about the baby is whether he will follow in his father’s footsteps and get into tennis.
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Well, the bookies are certainly thinking that way and you can get odds of 500/1 for him to win Wimbledon.
The Daily Record reports that William Hill are offering odds of 500-1 that Sir Andy’s son will follow in his footsteps and claim the Wimbledon men’s crown one day.
Coral’s David Stevens said: “Andy Murray was the toast of British tennis fans when ending the long wait for a home champion at SW19.
“Plenty will be hoping the family’s new arrival can go on to emulate his dad in the future.
It comes as Sir Andy, who has three Grand Slams to his name, continues his comeback from hip surgery.
He said: “I’ll definitely be taking some time off as we’ll be pretty busy with three children under the age of four.
“I’ll try to be around as much as possible in the next year, but I know my tennis career won’t go on for ever, so there will need to be a balance between me maximising the next few years and spending quality time with my family.
“I’m lucky in that I can train close to home, so that lets me do things like the school run whenever I can.”
Lewis Hamilton dedicated his sixth Formula One World Championship to Niki Lauda, the legendary driver and his late Mercedes colleague.
The British driver clinched the title with a second place finish at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday, coming in behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas in Austin.
He is now only one title behind Michael Schumacher’s record haul of seven, and he said after the race he wants to complete his ‘masterpiece’ before stepping away from driving.
The 34-year-old has at least one more year to run on his £40million-a-year Mercedes deal, and he’s already committed to remaining in the sport beyond next season.
Hamilton began racing for Mercedes in 2013, with Lauda initiating contact with the then McLaren driver the prior year to try and tempt him to a team who, at that point, were still struggling to establish themselves as a leading outfit.
The three-time F1 World Drivers’ Champion eventually got his man, and Hamilton and Lauda remained close up until the latter’s death, aged 70, earlier this year.
Hamilton has already spoken this season on how much Lauda’s passing affected him, and he dedicated his sixth title to the legendary Austrian on Monday morning.
“Six World Championships!!,” Hamilton wrote on Twitter. “I can’t begin to describe this feeling, but it’s one I’ll never forget.
“As a kid growing up in Stevenage, it was a wish to win an F1 race and a dream to win a Championship, so to be standing here today representing my country, is such an incredible honour and beyond what I could have ever imagined.
“If just one kid sees me standing here and decides to follow their dream, no matter what it may be, nothing would make me more proud.
“I wouldn’t be here’s (sic) without so many of you, my amazing family – especially my dad who taught me to never give up, my friends, my team at @mercedesamgf1 and my fans.
“You’ve been with me on this journey from the start and it’s because of you that I stay focused and determined. I’m forever grateful from the bottom of my heart for every single one of you for your constant support, encouragement and love.
“This season is for Niki Lauda, my incredible friend and mentor who we lost this year, who proved that courage and determination go hand in hand.
“This one’s for you, Niki. I’ll continue to make you proud.”
Lewis Hamilton has won his sixth Formula One world championship in America.
The 34-year-old moved about the sport’s Argentine godfather Juan Manuel Fangio and within striking range of Michael Schumacher’s record collection of seven after he took the chequered flag in Texas in second.
Hamilton was required to finish only in the top eight to be certain of clinching the championship here.
Valtteri Bottas did all he could to take the title fight on to Brazil by passing Hamilton, on a different strategy to his Mercedes team-mate, for the victory with four laps remaining.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen ran Hamilton all the way to the line, but finished just eight tenths of a second behind the Englishman.
“Get in there, Lewis,” came the roar from Hamilton’s race engineer, Pete Bonnington. “That is it. Champion of the world. You did that in style, mate.”
“Still we rise, guys,” replied an emotional Hamilton. “What an incredible weekend. To everyone that came out, I cannot believe it. I really can’t believe it.”
Hamilton parked up in the spot reserved to celebrate his world championship.
“Still we rise guys, still we rise”
“Thank you so much, guys – we did an incredible job… I can’t believe it”
Still sitting in his car, he removed his helmet and balaclava before standing on top of his silver machine and lapping up the adulation of the American crowd. He ran into the arms of his Mercedes mechanics to celebrate before retrieving a Union flag.
“It is overwhelming if I am honest,” said Hamilton. “I feel so much emotion.
“I have got my mum and dad here, my step-mum and step-dad here. It is an honour to be up there with the greats. My dad told me when I was six or seven never to give up – that is the family motto.
“I was pushing as hard as I could today and I was hopeful I could win but I didn’t have enough left in the tyres.
“I don’t know about how many championships I can win, but as an athlete I feel as fresh as I could be. We will keep pushing.”
Max Verstappen was furious with Lewis Hamilton once again after qualifying for Sunday’s United States Grand Prix.
The Formula One pair have been engaged in a war of words since last weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, and they almost collided here in Q2.
Hamilton moved to his left to overtake the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat at Turn 19, with Verstappen then taking to the grass to avoid the Briton’s Mercedes.
The Dutchman vented his anger at Hamilton in a strongly-worded radio message.
“It is his f****** problem, this, what is happening,” said Verstappen. The stewards noted the accident, but took no further action.
Explaining the incident, Verstappen said: “We were all lining up to do our lap, and I had Daniil in front of me.
“We were slowing down to make space and Lewis drove by like nobody was there, and didn’t care. I was like ‘if you don’t care, neither do I’. Everyone was respecting each other and that is why it was such a close call.”
Hamilton said: “It was nothing. There are no rules that say you have to stay in single file. I kept going and he was trying to race me.”
Hamilton needs to finish only eighth to be certain of the title that will move him one above Juan Manuel Fangio and within striking range of Michael Schumacher’s record haul of seven.
But his hopes of securing the world championship in style suffered a setback in Austin after he qualified only fifth for Sunday’s race.
On his bid to seal title number six, he added: “I am not looking to pull out miracles tomorrow. But I will try to turn a negative into a positive that’s for sure.
“I didn’t pull the laps out today. The car had the capability to be on the front row. It is my fault but I will try and rectify it tomorrow.”