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
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands ...
, 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
Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...
, 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
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the northe ...
. He also took part in the
Red Bull Rookies Cup in 2007, taking fourth place in the championship thanks to a win at
Assen
Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the ...
and second at
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 c ...
. He continued in the series in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
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
The Sachsenring () is a motorsport racing circuit located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. Among other events, it features the annual German motorcycle Grand Prix of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship ...
and
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
. He also finished second to
Efrén Vázquez
Efrén Vázquez Rodríguez (born 2 September 1986 in Barakaldo, Spain) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He currently is a test rider for KTM's Moto3 project. He has also competed in the 125cc and 250cc world championship classes du ...
in the CEV Buckler championship.
125cc World Championship
![Luis Salom 2010 Silverstone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Luis_Salom_2010_Silverstone.jpg)
Salom made his Grand Prix début in a wildcard appearance at the
Spanish Grand Prix
The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...
, finishing 23rd. After another wildcard appearance in
Catalunya
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the northe ...
, Salom moved into the championship full-time, replacing
Simone Corsi
Simone Corsi (born 24 April 1987) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle racer. Born in Rome, Corsi has been racing in motorcycle world championships for nearly 20 years, amassing over 300 races, 4th all-time, behind only Valentino Rossi, ...
at the WRB team. In twelve races, Salom amassed 21 points on the
Aprilia
Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded immediately after World War II in Noale, Italy, by Alberto Beggio. The company started as a manufacturer of bicycles and moved on to manufacture scooters and small-capacity motorcycles. ...
with sixth at
Donington being his best result.
Salom moved to the
Lambretta
Lambretta () is the brand name of mainly motor scooters, initially manufactured in Milan, Italy, by Innocenti.
The name is derived from the word Lambrate, the suburb of Milan named after the river Lambro which flows through the area, and whe ...
team for the season. After amassing Lambretta's only point of the season at
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 c ...
, 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
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
in 2012, beating
Sandro Cortese
Alessandro "Sandro" Cortese (born 6 January 1990) is a former German motorcycle racer, who last competed in 2020 World Superbike Championship for Team Pedercini. Cortese won his first world title in the Moto3 class, in ., and his second in the Su ...
and
Maverick Viñales
Maverick Viñales Ruiz (; born 12 January 1995) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer. Viñales is the 2013 Moto3 World Champion, currently riding in MotoGP for the Aprilia Racing team, after five seasons as a MotoGP factory rider with the ...
in a last-lap fight. He also won at
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
. He finished the championship in second behind Cortese.
He went to
Red Bull KTM Ajo
Ajo Motorsport is a Finnish Grand Prix motorcycle racing team, currently competing in the Moto2 and Moto3 classes under the name Red Bull KTM Ajo and in the MotoE class under the name Avant Ajo MotoE. The team's founder and principal is former ...
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
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the northe ...
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
Álex Rins Navarro (born 8 December 1995) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer for the LCR Honda Castrol in the MotoGP class. He was the 2011 CEV Buckler 125 Junior GP Champion, and made his Grand Prix motorcycle racing debut in the Moto3 ...
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
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
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
Pons Racing is a motorcycle and auto racing team owned by the British company Pons Racing UK Limited. The team principal is former 250 cc world champion, Sito Pons. In motorcycle road racing world championships, Pons has fielded riders su ...
that lasted until the end of 2015 to race with former title rival Maverick Viñales. Then during the events in
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
and
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, he only scored two points. During the
Catalan Grand Prix, he suffered a crash with
Jonas Folger
Jonas Folger (born 13 August 1993) is a German professional motorcycle racer who most recently competed in the 2021 Superbike World Championship. He is best known for his stint in MotoGP with Monster Yamaha Tech 3 getting a podium in Germany be ...
, 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
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
, Salom moved to SAG Racing Team partnering with
Jesko Raffin
Jesko Raffin (born 12 June 1996) is a Swiss motorcycle racer. He was the FIM CEV Moto2 champion in 2014 and 2018.
Career
Raffin made his debut in the Moto2 World Championship in with GP Team Switzerland as a replacement for the injured Randy ...
. At
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
Salom finished the race in 2nd place.
Death
![Formula1 Circuit Catalunya](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Formula1_Circuit_Catalunya.svg)
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
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
, 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
Marco Simoncelli (;
20 January 198723 October 2011), nicknamed Sic (), was an Italian professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the MotoGP World Championship for 10 years from 2002 to 2011. He started in the 125cc class before moving up to ...
'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
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)
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
By season
By class
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
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salom, Luis
125cc World Championship riders
Spanish motorcycle racers
1991 births
2016 deaths
Sport deaths in Spain
Motorcycle racers who died while racing
Moto3 World Championship riders
Moto2 World Championship riders
Sportspeople from Palma de Mallorca
Filmed deaths in motorsport