Dean Berta Viñales (20 April 2006 – 25 September 2021) was a Spanish professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the

Supersport 300 World Championship The Supersport 300 World Championship is a motorcycle racing competition on paved surfaces, for production-based motorcycles. Created in 2017, the championship runs as a support class to the Superbike World Championship. History The Supersport 3 ...

for the Viñales Racing Team on a

Yamaha YZF-R3 The Yamaha YZF-R3, commonly R3, is a inline-twin sport bike made by Yamaha since 2015. The R3 and the R25 are the first Yamaha twins with an offset cylinder design. The YZF-R3 was updated for 2019. Design The Yamaha R3 is an entry level spor ...

. Berta Viñales was the cousin of Maverick Viñales, a Moto3 world champion and

Isaac Viñales Isaac Viñales Mares (born 6 November 1993) is a Spanish motorcycle racer. He is the cousin of former Moto3 World Champion and current MotoGP racer Maverick Viñales, and has competed in the Spanish 125GP Championship, the Spanish Moto2 series, ...

, who has competed in the 125cc, Moto3, Moto2 and

Supersport World Championship The Supersport World Championship, abbreviated to WorldSSP, is a motorcycle racing competition on hard-surfaced circuits, based on mid-sized sports motorcycles. Competition machines were originally based on production-based motorcycles with 600 ...

Career

Berta Viñales debuted in the Supersport 300 World Championship in 2021, where he started in 11 races, reaching his best result in fourth place in the race held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours.

Death

Berta Viñales died as a result of injuries sustained in an accident during the first race of the

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...

round. At the first turn of the circuit, there was a multi-rider crash, and after falling to the ground he was run over by other riders. He was the first Supersport 300 rider to die from injuries in a race. At 3:11 p.m. on the same day of the accident, the organization published the following message on its social networks: ''We are deeply saddened to report the death of Dean Berta Viñales. The Superbike family sends their love to family, loved ones and their team. His personality, enthusiasm and commitment will be greatly missed. Everyone in motorcycle racing will miss you, Dean. Travel in peace.''

Legacy

Following three teenage deaths during the 2021 motorcycle road racing season with ages 14, 19 and Berta Viñales at 15, the organisers

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

and Dorna have introduced new minimum-age requirements rising from 16 to 18 in major

road racing Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

competitions from 2023, together with reduced grid sizes and with other restrictions for lesser series.After three fatalities, FIM/Dorna change age limits on youth racers
avrider.com, 25 October 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021

Career statistics

Supersport 300 World Championship

Races by year

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

2006 births 2021 deaths Filmed deaths in motorsport People from Alt Empordà Sportspeople from the Province of Girona Spanish motorcycle racers Sportsmen from Catalonia Motorcycle racers from Catalonia Motorcycle racers who died while racing Sport deaths in Spain Supersport 300 World Championship riders {{Spain-motorcycle-racing-bio-stub