WSBK's dead, MotoGP's in. (spoiler)

[ShredHed]

Just kiddin'.

Good race yesterday. Fucking sucks about Kato, hope he recovers.

Good to see the new entries rip. Ducati real impressive with a 3d & 5th.

I dunno about dethroning Rossi though, that fucker can ride.

Also sucks that Honda pulled out of WSBK this year, it's all freakin' Ducati podiums. That's boring.

[benVFR]

That is Awesome that Honda has some competition...

Do you know what turn Kato crashed on?

Ben

[Gangsta SV]

WSBK is world super bike right ?

[ShredHed]

He crashed at the triangle chicane.

I missed any footage of it.

However, by the sound of it, the Suzuka medical staff handled it pretty poorly. Some say they saw his head dangling around when crew was putting him on the stretcher. What? No neck brace? And that's where his most critical injuries are. Maybe another case of Motorcycle racing getting shitty support compared to the Auto's.

Anyway, here's a clipping of post about it:

From the MCN messagebord -

Below is the information given to the Italian media by the FIM, Sete Gibernau and Dr.Costa regarding the condition of Dijira Kato. It's not good news and I wasn't even sure whether to post this but we all know the risks of the sport so it is news albeit bad.

This is a sad sad day for motorcycling. Kato had a daughter just 10 days ago, and would be 26 tomorrow.
Here's the information I have been able to gather from the Italian press.

Kato's condition is very serious. He is now in deep coma. Dr Costa says there is only ONE hope of saving him... Costa says Kato has a 15% chance of survival. But the real bad news is that there was a problem between his first and second vertebrae and even if he does survive he will have lost the use of his legs, arms and even breathing.. he won't be able to breathe by himself and will need a respirator at all times. He will be paralyzed from the neck down. A similar condition to actor Christopher Reeves. About his crash not much is known. There is no video. Gibernau is the only
pilot to see him. Here's what he had to say:
"I broke something on my bike at the start and stopped at the pits to fix it. When I got back in the track I found myself behind Kato. I was right behind him and I was going about 250kph and I saw him start his braking and change gears. In that place all riders follow the same line, right left right. Kato instead suddenly went left. I don't know why and even the telemetry doesn't say anything. I could not believe my eyes. I saw him go suddenly left and crash into the wall at more than 200kph and I think in 4th
gear. I've never seen anything like this. It's crazy to crash into a wall in 2003 as has happened to Melandri, Barros, Poggiali and Ukawa.. Cecchinello was lucky but he got really close to the guardrail at full speed in the straight. We can no longer race here at Suzuka and everyone has to understand this. I don't want to race here again, it would be crazy".

Also what we know is that Kato's helmet was broken in two places and he has blood at the base of his brain. Dr Costa also said that when kato got there he had no heartbeat and wasn't
breathing. They reanimated him and put him on a respirator. He was then airlifted to the hospital.
He also said that Kato's life depends on the next few hours. he had a "catetere" (I don't know the english translation for that) apllied to his leg artery to try and lower the blood temperature to 32-33 C=B0 and thus avoid the risks of an "edema" (again don't know how to traslate it) that could be fatal. [Edema is medical term for swelling -J]
The doctors also said he has multiple wounds all over his body and probably has more damaged bones although so far they have only been trying to take care of his head/brain and neck and the rest will come later if he survives.

Costa also said that Kato will indergo a therapy of "barbiturici" (again no translation) to reduce his brain activity and not stress the brain.

[GMS1000]

yeah it is sad about Kato. He did crash in the final chicane before the front straight. And as far as putting him on the stretcher, they might as well have dragged him by his ankle I can't believe how fuckin careless they were with him. they never secured his head. They just picked him up and plopped him down on the stretcher like he was a dog. I've never seen anything like it. They didn't give a damn about his injuries, they just didn't want the race to be red flagged. It was bad enough to see him laying there motionless, but then see the way he was treated just about ruined a great race..

peace

[benVFR]

I read at least one article yesterday saying that Japanese race marshalls have done this before and taken heat for it. They don't want the image problem of having people see them red flag a race. From what I read that would never have happened at an American or European track.

Ben

[snaggle]

Sorry to hear about Kato. It is a shame that this had to happen. I haven't seen the video of him being carted off on the stretcher, but I can say this. The quoted article said that he arrived at the track hospital without a heartbeat, and wasn't breathing. When you are talking about emergency medicine(ie track ambulance) there is a rule of life before limb. So if Kato had no pulse/breathing, they did the right thing in taking him in as quickly as possible. Even if it means not strapping him down, taking off his helmet to put on a neck brace. just my 2cents

Steve

[ShredHed]

Yah, they had to be pretty quick. Don't they have collars that fit with a helmet on? I'd think that'd be the protocol on a corner team since it doesn't take long to throw one on and the helmet would probably add to stability.