Yuki Takahashi reveals earthquake escape

Yuki Takahashi has spoken of the moment he feared his car would roll over when he was caught up in the devastating Japanese earthquake earlier this month.

The Gresini Moriwaki Moto2 rider was just leaving the Twin Ring Motegi circuit after doing promotional work for the Japanese Grand Prix, scheduled to take place on April 24, when the magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck.

Takahashi, who won the Catalunya Moto2 race last season and finished fifth in the season’s opening race in Qatar last weekend, told MCN: “It was really scary. The road just starting moving and I thought I was going to crash because it was hard to keep control of my car.

“t was confusing to start because I wasn’t sure if it was the wind. But when I reached the first town not far from the circuit, a lot of walls had fallen and all the traffic signals had collapsed, so I knew it was an earthquake.

“The roads were badly damaged too. It normally takes me one hour to get to my house from Motegi, but it took nine. But that is nothing when you think what has happened in Japan.”

The Twin Ring Motegi race was postponed last week and re-scheduled for October 2.
It is the second year in succession that the race has been postponed.

Last year’s race was postponed from April to October following the volcanic ash crisis that prevented most of the paddock from flying from Europe to the Far East.