Andrea Antonelli in fatal crash

ITALIAN rider Andrea Antonelli has died following an accident during the FIM World Supersport race at the Moscow Raceway in Russia today.

Due to the tragic loss of Antonelli, organisers cancelled the rest of the meeting out of respect for the 25-year-old rider.

Rain started to fall during the first World Superbike race earlier this morning and started to get heavier. The World Supersport race was declared a wet race. Conditions were treacherous and riders erred on the side of caution on the opening lap.

Spray from the Supersport bikes as well as the continuation of rain, led to a lack of visibility and on the straight between Turn 14 and Turn 15 on the opening lap, Antonelli was involved in a collision. Red flags were shown shortly after and the race was halted.

Lorenzo Zanetti was also involved, but appeared to walk back to his garage unhurt.

Antonelli was immediately attended to and taken to an ambulance for treatment. Unfortunately, the young Italian rider could not be resuscitated and succumbed to his injuries.

An official statement has been released: “During today's FIM World Supersport race, at 1.32pm Italian rider Andrea Antonelli (Team Goeleven Kawasaki) suffered a serious accident on the straight between Turn 14 and Turn 15 wherein he sustained critical injuries.

The race was stopped with the red flag and the rider was immediately taken to an ambulance where the medical staff worked to resuscitate him.

Despite their efforts, Andrea sadly succumbed to his injuries at 2.10pm local time.

FIM, Dorna and YMS Promotion decided to cancel all activities scheduled for the rest of the day.

Everyone involved in motorcycle championships extends its deepest condolences to Andrea's family, friends, team and Italian Federation at this tragic loss.”

There will be a minute of silence in memory of Andrea at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca before the US Grand Prix.

From all at Visordown, we send our sincere condolences to Andrea's family, friends and team.