Luis Salom

Luis Salom
Salom at the pitwalk of 2013 Catalan Grand Prix
Nationality	Spanish
Born	(1991-08-07)7 August 1991 Palma, Spain
Died	3 June 2016(2016-06-03) (aged 24) Barcelona, Spain
Motorcycle racing career statistics Moto2 World Championship Active years 2014–2016 Manufacturers Kalex 2016 championship position 19th (37 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 41 0 3 0 1 202 Moto3 World Championship Active years 2012–2013 Manufacturers Kalex KTM, KTM Championships 0 2013 championship position 3rd (302 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 34 9 20 4 6 516 125cc World Championship Active years 2009–2011 Manufacturers Honda, Lambretta, Aprilia Championships 0 2011 championship position 8th (116 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 43 0 2 0 0 209

Luis Jaime Salom Horrach^[1] (7 August 1991 – 3 June 2016) was a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer. Salom died after a practice accident the Circuit de Catalunya, when making contact with his bike and the wall after a high-speed accident. Racing in the Moto2 class since 2014, he finished 41 races, with 3 podium appearances, including a second place finish at the 2016 Qatar season opener. At the time of his death, Salom ranked 10th in the 2016 Moto2 Championship point standings. Previously he had competed in Moto3, accumulating nine race victories, finishing 2nd and 3rd in the 2012 and 2013 championships, respectively. ^[2]

Career

Early career

Born in Palma de Mallorca, Salom started racing competitively from the age of eight, winning the 50 cc Balearic Supermotard championship.^[3] He progressed up into 125cc championships from 2005 onwards, again becoming Balearic champion for two years in succession, before moving into the CEV Buckler championship in 2007.

In his first full season in the national championship, Salom finished seventh in the series, with a single podium coming in Catalunya. He also took part in the Red Bull Rookies Cup in 2007, taking fourth place in the championship thanks to a win at Assen and second at Jerez. He continued in the series in 2008 where he would win four of the first five races of the season, to hold a 13-point lead over J. D. Beach. Beach would overhaul Salom by four points by season's end, after Salom retired from races at the Sachsenring and Brno.^[4] He also finished second to Efrén Vázquez in the CEV Buckler championship.

125cc/Moto3 World Championship, (2009–2013)

Luis Salom 2010 Silverstone

Salom made his Grand Prix début in a wildcard appearance at the Spanish Grand Prix, finishing 23rd.^[5] After another wildcard appearance in Catalunya, Salom moved into the championship full-time, replacing Simone Corsi at the WRB team. In twelve races, Salom amassed 21 points on the Aprilia with sixth at Donington being his best result.

Salom moved to the Lambretta team for the 2010 season.^[6] After amassing Lambretta's only point of the season at Jerez, Salom moved to Stipa-Molenaar Racing for the rest of the season,^[7] where he would add a further 71 points to his tally, including nine top-ten finishes to enable him to finish 12th in the championship.

Salom won his first Grand Prix in Indianapolis in 2012, beating Sandro Cortese and Maverick Viñales in a last-lap fight. He also won at Aragon. He finished the championship in second behind Cortese.

He went to Red Bull KTM Ajo for the 2013 season. He dominated most of the season, and led from Catalunya onwards. However, his championship lead dwindled at Motegi after crashing out of the race, giving his title rivals Maverick Viñales and Álex Rins the chance to catch up. Rins crashed out, but Viñales finished second. At the final round in Valencia, Salom crashed again, leaving Rins and Viñales to fight to for the title, and Viñales would later triumph. Salom finished fourteenth and recorded the fastest lap of the race, but could only finish third in the final standings.

Moto2 World Championship (2014–2016)

Salom signed a contract with Pons Racing that lasted until the end of 2015 to race with former title rival Maverick Viñales.^[8] Then during the events in Qatar and Austin, he only scored two points. During the Catalan Grand Prix, he suffered a crash with Jonas Folger, putting both of them out of the race. Salom was taken to hospital after the race, and underwent surgery on a broken right arm.

In 2016, Salom moved to SAG Racing Team partnering with Jesko Raffin. At Qatar Salom finished the race in 2nd place.

Death

The course as now configured to reduce turn 12 speeds.

On 3 June 2016, with 25 minutes to go during Free Practice 2 for the 2016 Catalan Moto2 Grand Prix, Salom crashed at turn 12,^[9] resulting in the session being red-flagged. The accident was not recorded by MotoGP cameras, but a security camera near turn 13 managed to capture video of the accident. His bike hit the air fence and bounced upwards, while Salom (who had let go of his bike) slid underneath resulting in him being directly in the crashing bike's path. Salom was rushed to Hospital General de Catalunya, where he died during surgery from injuries sustained in the crash.

As a result of his death, the race used the layout normally used by Formula One, to reduce speeds in the part of the track where Salom had crashed.^[10] Salom's death was the first during a world championship since Italian rider Marco Simoncelli's fatal crash at Sepang during the 2011 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix.^[11]

Until telemetry data was released four days after Salom's death, his team believed the front of the bike lost control whilst braking over a bump at turn 12. The telemetry showed that due to a low acceleration at the exit out of turn 11, he had applied the brakes nine metres later than usual, in order to maintain a proper corner speed at turn 12. As a result, he was still on the brakes when he hit an irregularity on the asphalt, as opposed to previous laps where he already had released the brakes on that spot. The stress this produced on the front tyre, caused a loss of grip over the irregularity, resulting in the crash.^[12]

As a result of his death, during the 2016 FIM MotoGP Awards, it is announced that his number, the #39, will be retired in the Moto2 class as a tribute for Salom.^[13]

Career statistics

By season

By class

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

• Profile on motogp.com
• Official website