The SaG team of Luis Salom and Jesko Raffin released an analysis of data from Luis Salom's Kalex at the time of the crash via a press release. The Spaniard lost the front on a bump in the track while braking.
Here is a translation of the team's press release:
Friday June 3, Luis Salom lost his life during the second free practice session of the Catalan Grand Prix after a fall at turn 12 of the Catalunya circuit. After retrieving the data on Sunday, June 5 from the organization, the SAG team's technical staff immediately held a meeting to personally determine the circumstances of the accident and then communicate exactly what happened in technical terms at the fatal turn 12 of the Circuit de Catalunya. Team owner Edu Perale, team manager Jordi Rubio, Luis Salom team leader Bernat Bass, Jesko Raffin team leader Michael Ferger, Moto2 rider Jesko Raffin and manager by Luis Salom, Marco Rodrigo witnessed a comprehensible analysis of the data.
During FP2, Luis Salom completed his first laps to achieve his best time (1'48.608) before making his first stop to change the rear tire of the bike. After that, Salom returned to the track and during this lap while exiting, he was the victim of the accident. On this lap, Luis arrived at the braking point for turn 12 6 km/h slower than his fastest lap. According to the data, this is due to a slower exit from turn 11. Due to this reduced speed, Luis started braking 9 meters later to maintain a good speed at turn 12. Upon entering this turn, he there is an irregularity on the track known to all pilots (bump). The braking delay forced Luis to hold the brakes while passing this irregularity, unlike the previous laps during which he had already released the brakes on this passage. This, added to such a high speed as during his best lap in FP2 produced stress on the front tire and grip was lost on this unevenness of the asphalt. This loss of grip caused the fall, the outcome of which we all know.
This data provided by the organization is available to all qualified technicians wishing to analyze it.
