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Luis Salom
Luis Salom 2013.jpg
Salom at the 2013 Malaysian 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
Championships 0
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 (7 August 1991 – 3 June 2016) was a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer. Salom died after a practice accident at 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.

Career

Early career

Born in Palma de Mallorca, Salom started racing competitively from the age of eight, winning the 50 cc Balearic Supermotard championship. 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. He also finished second to Efrén Vázquez in the CEV Buckler championship.

125cc World Championship

Luis Salom 2010 Silverstone
Luis Salom 2010 Silverstone

Salom made his Grand Prix début in a wildcard appearance at the Spanish Grand Prix, finishing 23rd. 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. After amassing Lambretta's only point of the season at Jerez, Salom moved to Stipa-Molenaar Racing for the rest of the season, 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.

Moto3 World 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, finishing the first eight races on the podium, including four wins, and led the points standings from Catalunya onwards. In a heavy crash during qualifying for the Indianapolis Grand Prix he broke his heel, but continued to race injured to keep the championship battle in his favour. He finished the race in 5th place, his worst result of the season up to that point and the first time he was off the podium all year. Despite the injury he won the next two races at Brno and Silverstone to extend his points lead before being able to rest his foot and recover. However, his championship hopes were put in serious jeopardy at Motegi where he was the innocent victim of a crash by Isaac Viñales, cousin of title rival Maverick Viñales, when he ran in third place. After remounting he eventually had to retire from the race after a second fall, giving Maverick Viñales and Álex Rins the chance to catch up. Rins later also crashed out, but Viñales finished second, making up decisive 20 points after being on the brink of being out of the championship battle altogether before the last race of the season. At the final round in Valencia only five points covered the top three riders with Salom leading, but he eventually crashed out and rejoined the race far behind, leaving Rins and Viñales to fight for the title until the last corner. Salom crossed the line in 14th and recorded the fastest lap of the race, but only finished third in the final standings despite scoring the most wins of the season.

Moto2 World Championship

Salom signed a contract with Pons Racing that lasted until the end of 2015 to race with former title rival Maverick Viñales. 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

Formula1 Circuit Catalunya
The course as configured after the crash until 2017 to reduce turn 13 speeds.

On 3 June 2016, with 25 minutes to go during Free Practice 2 for the 2016 Catalan Moto2 Grand Prix, Salom crashed at Europcar (turn 13), 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. Salom's death was the first during a world championship since Italian premier class rider Marco Simoncelli's fatal crash at Sepang during the 2011 Shell Advance Malaysian Grand Prix (which was abandoned and declared a non-event by the FIM). Further modifications with the chicane location were announced at the end of the 2016 season, with a new motorcycle-only chicane installed before the car chicane. However, safety issues proved to be an issue and that chicane was not used by MotoGP, with the car chicane used.

The SAG Team that Salom had ridden believed the front of the bike lost control whilst braking over a bump at turn 12. However, telemetry that was provided to MotoGP in an investigation 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.

During the 2016 FIM MotoGP Awards, it was announced that Salom's number, #39, will be retired in the Moto2 class as a tribute.

Career statistics

Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup

Races by year

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

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos Pts
2007 SPA
2
ITA
Ret
GBR
Ret
NED
1
GER
Ret
CZE
4
POR
7
VAL
4
4th 80
2008 SPA1
1
SPA2
1
POR
4
FRA
1
ITA
1
GBR
9
NED
7
GER
Ret
CZE1
Ret
CZE2
3
2nd 145

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Season Class Motorcycle Team Number Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd
2009 125cc Honda SAG - Castrol 39 12 0 0 0 0 21 22nd
Aprilia Jack & Jones Team
2010 125cc Lambretta Lambretta Reparto Corse 39 16 0 0 0 0 72 12th
Aprilia Stipa - Molenaar Racing GP
2011 125cc Aprilia RW Racing GP 39 15 0 2 0 0 116 8th
2012 Moto3 Kalex KTM RW Racing GP 39 17 2 8 0 1 214 2nd
2013 Moto3 KTM Red Bull KTM Ajo 39 17 7 12 4 5 302 3rd
2014 Moto2 Kalex Paginas Amarillas HP 40 39 18 0 2 0 1 85 8th
2015 Moto2 Kalex Paginas Amarillas HP 40 39 17 0 0 0 0 80 13th
2016 Moto2 Kalex SAG Team 39 6 0 1 0 0 37 19th
Total 118 9 25 4 7 927

By class

Class Seasons 1st GP 1st Pod 1st Win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp
125cc 2009–2011 2009 Spain 2011 Netherlands 43 0 2 0 0 209 0
Moto3 2012–2013 2012 Qatar 2012 Spain 2012 Indianapolis 34 9 20 4 6 516 0
Moto2 2014–2016 2014 Qatar 2014 Argentina 41 0 3 0 1 202 0
Total 2009–2016 9 25 4 7 927 0

Races by year

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

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts
2009 125cc Honda QAT JPN SPA
23
FRA ITA CAT
Ret
22nd 21
Aprilia NED
16
GER
13
GBR
6
CZE
Ret
IND
13
RSM
21
POR
15
AUS
19
MAL
15
VAL
13
2010 125cc Lambretta QAT
Ret
SPA
15
12th 72
Aprilia FRA
10
ITA
DNS
GBR
Ret
NED
8
CAT
Ret
GER
Ret
CZE
10
IND
12
RSM
Ret
ARA
10
JPN
8
MAL
8
AUS
8
POR
5
VAL
10
2011 125cc Aprilia QAT
8
SPA
Ret
POR
8
FRA
10
CAT
Ret
GBR
4
NED
2
ITA
6
GER
5
CZE
DNS
IND RSM
Ret
ARA
5
JPN
23
AUS
2
MAL
Ret
VAL
7
8th 116
2012 Moto3 Kalex KTM QAT
4
SPA
2
POR
3
FRA
Ret
CAT
10
GBR
2
NED
4
GER
3
ITA
Ret
IND
1
CZE
2
RSM
2
ARA
1
JPN
Ret
MAL
4
AUS
15
VAL
10
2nd 214
2013 Moto3 KTM QAT
1
AME
3
SPA
2
FRA
3
ITA
1
CAT
1
NED
1
GER
2
IND
5
CZE
1
GBR
1
RSM
4
ARA
4
MAL
1
AUS
3
JPN
Ret
VAL
14
3rd 302
2014 Moto2 Kalex QAT
14
AME
Ret
ARG
3
SPA
6
FRA
5
ITA
2
CAT
Ret
NED
15
GER
14
IND
26
CZE
Ret
GBR
19
RSM
15
ARA
13
JPN
15
AUS
17
MAL
11
VAL
4
8th 85
2015 Moto2 Kalex QAT
Ret
AME
27
ARG
11
SPA
7
FRA
Ret
ITA
5
CAT
5
NED
DNS
GER
17
IND
16
CZE
9
GBR
17
RSM
9
ARA
Ret
JPN
Ret
AUS
6
MAL
6
VAL
6
13th 80
2016 Moto2 Kalex QAT
2
ARG
15
AME
13
SPA
9
FRA
10
ITA
Ret
CAT
DNS
NED GER AUT CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 19th 37

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Luis Salom para niños

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