MotoGP star flown to hospital as horror 120mph crash investigated - 'He was all over me'

A star was airlifted to hospital after being involved in a 120mph crash during the Australian Grand Prix Sprint race.

Italian rider Marco Bezzecchi hit the back of Spain's Maverick Vinales on the first corner at the Phillip Island circuit on Saturday afternoon. The two riders both went flying off their bikes, with the incident described as a 'massive crash' by the MotoGP commentator.

Vinales has been declared fit after the incident but Bezzecchi was airlifted to hospital in Melbourne to undergo a full checkup. Despite impacting at 120mph, Bezzecchi is understood not to have suffered any fractures or serious injuries.

The 25-year-old was seemingly dragged into Vinales' slipstream and took the brunt of the high-speed collision, laying face down in the gravel without moving for 10 seconds. Meanwhile, Vinales was treated for an elbow in jury after the fall.

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Bezzecchi was treated by medics and checked for any serious injuries before being stretchered off and flown via helicopter to hospital. Vinales was fit enough to get on the back of a steward's bike, with the crash still under investigation hours later.

Speaking to , Vinales said that both he and Bezzecchi will be racing in Sunday's Grand Prix. "I feel very sore," the 29-year-old added. "Obviously now more and more pain is coming. It's normal.

The crash was big. I entered really fast onto the gravel. Luckily the helmet worked and also thanks to Arai and Alpinestars, because always it keeps you really safe and that's fantastic. [It] feels like nothing is broken, but everything is very sore, especially the hand and the arms.

"We'll see, from my point of view, what I felt was that he tried to overtake me again when I overtook him. Obviously, I was aware that I could not cross the line, so I braked leaving him some space. But probably he misunderstood the braking point or something and when he braked, he was all over me.

"[The] stewards need to decide which is the line of the incident. I explained to them very well what happened and I think they understand. They were listening, which is very important, and we'll see. We were expecting… luckily, we are both okay and we're going to race tomorrow."

Bezzecchi's VR46 team-mate and fellow rider, Fabio Di Giannantonio, was racing just behind the crash and even got hit with debris from the collision. "For sure, I saw the crash, it was a scary moment - believe me, it was a really scary moment," Di Giannantonio explained.

"Because when you are arriving there, you have to control your bike, and you see two bikes in front of you exploding - literally - it's scary. Also, because some pieces from their bikes hit me. I got a titanium plate on racing suit completely destroyed; also on the helmet and the screen. It was a scary one. Luckily everybody seems to be okay, but it was a tough one."

Elsewhere in the Sprint race, championship leader Jorge Martin took maximum points after another dominant race. Martin led every lap and beat Marc Marquez by 1.520 seconds. In qualifying for the Grand Prix, Martin also took pole position by pipping Marquez once more. Vinales is set to start third on the grid.