Five-time Formula 1 World Championship Lewis Hamilton crashed a Yamaha-R1 motorcycle he was riding anonymously at Jerez on Friday, the Mercedes driver was not hurt and continued riding after the incident.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Hamilton was riding a Yamaha-R1 wearing a black suit and black helmet, accompanied by a group of trusted friends, during a motorcycle track test day at the MotoGP venue in southern Spain
Without fanfare or special privileges, Hamilton went out on track followed by Superbike rider and instructor Alex Lowes on one of the most powerful versions of the bike, which recently enjoyed success at Brno.
Hamilton is said to have suffered a crash through turn five, a fast right-hander onto the back straight which wrecked the Yamaha, but this did not deter the Mercedes F1 driver who arranged another mount and was continued to ride during the scheduled 20-minute open track stints for the riders.
It was noted that Hamilton got no special favours and was seen wrapping tyres in tyre warmers, cleaning the bike and his helmet between his sessions on track.
Hamilton’s love for motorcycles is well known, he is brand ambassador for MV Augusta, and has said of his two-wheel passion, “I love bikes – I don’t really ride too much off-track, I tend to ride my MV Agusta bikes around.”
“The sense of freedom you get is amazing when it’s just you and the bike. But racing one would be a whole different proposition,” added the Briton.
F1 world champion @LewisHamilton has been riding at Jerez this week. He’s had a couple of R1s provided by @crescentmoto and had been riding with the @PataYamahaWSBK guys. Spotted these while there for the test! pic.twitter.com/l2Tn9sRNAm
— Simon Patterson (@denkmit) December 2, 2018