20 years ago: Loris Capirossi’s lost World Championship dream in Barcelona

On 18 June 2006, the seventh round of the MotoGP season got underway at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with a shock that was to turn the World Championship on its head. What happened in the first corner still haunts Loris Capirossi to this day. For that pile-up may well have cost the Italian his dream of a MotoGP title.

Loris Capirossi (Ducati) travelled to Barcelona as championship leader, level on points with Nicky Hayden (Honda). Pole position and victory at the season opener in Jerez, plus second place at his home Grand Prix in Mugello a week earlier – the Desmosedici GP6, fitted with Bridgestone tyres, was on a par with Honda and Yamaha. For the first time, Ducati sensed a real chance of winning the title. Team-mate Sete Gibernau also got off to a strong start in front of his home crowd, whilst Marco Melandri (Honda), a two-time winner that season, lay third in the championship standings. It looked set to be an open four-way battle for the title: Capirossi, Hayden, Melandri and Rossi.

The first corner: ten seconds changed the course of the World Championship

Whilst braking for Turn 1, Sete Gibernau got too close to his team-mate Capirossi and hit his brake lever. The consequences were devastating: Gibernau was catapulted over the handlebars at nearly 200 km/h and rolled spectacularly. Capirossi, whose front brake had reacted violently due to the contact, swerved sideways into Marco Melandri. Both Italians, along with their bikes, crashed into the rear wheels of Dani Pedrosa (Honda) and John Hopkins (Suzuki). Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) was another victim as he tried to avoid Gibernau’s bike. In total, six riders skidded into the gravel trap at high speed.

As the dust settled, a scene of devastation unfolded. Remarkably, Gibernau was able to walk away unaided because he had kept his arms close to his body during the crash. Capirossi and Melandri lay motionless in the gravel. Capirossi quickly regained consciousness, whilst Melandri was carried away on a stretcher with a dislocated shoulder and a mild concussion. Paradoxically, Gibernau came off worst: a broken collarbone. A detail in the background: his ambulance collided with a bus around 50 metres from the hospital entrance.

2006: Der Massencrash in Barcelona

Foto: Gold & Goose

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Loris Capirossi’s title hopes were dashed

Livio Suppo, Ducati’s team principal at the time, put the incident into perspective: “The first corner of every race is always tricky. But the fact that both riders survived such a serious crash is a testament to the protective properties of modern racing suits. Unfortunately, this is the worst possible time of the season to get injured, with three races over three weekends and two more in the next three weeks.”

That was precisely Capirossi’s undoing. Although he was back on the grid just a week later at Assen, his impressive form had vanished. It took five races before he found his way back onto the podium at Brno. The statistics prove him right: joint World Championship leader on points before the crash, he finished the season in third place with 229 points – just 23 behind World Champion Hayden and 18 behind Rossi. Melandri followed in fourth place with 228 points. Had Capirossi and Melandri managed even a single top-five finish in Barcelona, the World Championship battle would have remained a four-way contest right up to Valencia – and Capirossi, as the Ducati rider in the best form, would have been in a strong position to claim his fourth World Championship title.

Lessons from the start crash in Barcelona in 2006

The crash had long-term consequences for the entire premier class. One of the main reasons why brake lever guards were finally made compulsory from the 2012 MotoGP season onwards can be traced back to this shocking incident at Catalunya in 2006. Today, these small plastic guards protect every MotoGP brake lever from accidental contact by other riders.