Superbike World Championship Rider Involved In Terrifying Crash

I watch a lot of racing — usually the four-wheeled kind — but no kind of racing puts a lump in my throat and makes me nervous quite like any kind of motorcycle racing. It's incredibly exciting to watch, but at the same time it's hard not to see a MotoGP Grand Prix or the Isle of Man TT as a casual fan and think, "This seems too dangerous; someone should stop this." 

If you need a prime example of why that is, look no further than the brutal crash one rider had in France this weekend.

The FIM Superbike World Championship is in France this weekend for a double-header weekend that makes up Round 8 of their season schedule.

Both races are being held at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, and on Friday Turkish rider Toprak Razgatlioglu of the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team — who also happens to be the championship leader — hit the track for the weekend's second practice session.

Unfortunately, he wound up having a massive, terrifying crash for the ages.

Razgatlioglu lost his bike coming around a corner, and while that would normally mean sliding across asphalt or gravel and eventually coming to a stop, his crash sent him heading straight for a barrier. 

He clipped it hard and went helicopter-spinning back across the track.

That's horrific, but fortunately, it appears that he's going to be okay, though it was announced that he will not be back on track for the rest of the weekend, according to the Superbike World Championship website.

The man himself posted an update from his hospital bed.

"I'm fine now, I'm in the hospital for a check-up. Thank you everyone for your good wishes," he wrote.

Man, it's good to hear that Toprak is on the mend and will hopefully be back on a bike sooner than later because that crash could have ended very, very badly.