Hilarious moment Moto3 rider accidentally jumps onto a rival’s bike mid-race after ‘forgetting he switched teams’ in wake of huge crash in Texas
- The Moto3 Americas GP was held on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas
- Ivan Ortola had a race to forget when he got on the wrong bike and didn’t finish
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This is the incredible moment Moto3 Americas GP rider Ivan Ortola climbed onto the WRONG bike after a brutal crash with rival Stefano Nepa in Texas.
The racing rivals were facing off at the Circuit of the Americas – home of Formula 1’s US Grand Prix – when they came loose and crashed into each other at Turn 15.
Fortunately, both men were back on their feet quickly, but Nepa may have been surprised to see his rival sprinting towards the wrong bike.
Instead of hopping on his MT helmets (MSi bike), Ortola ran straight to Nepa’s MTA Level Up bike – which happened to be the team he previously raced for.
Amid the madness of the crash and the speed at which he tried to get back into the action, the 19-year-old Ortola seemed to forget that he had switched teams.
Ivan Ortola and Stefano Nepa were involved in a crash in Turn 15 of COTA in Texas on Sunday
Ortola (right) quickly got up, but started sprinting away from his orange bike (center)
Instead, he tried to climb onto Nepa’s pink bike, much to the frustration of his rival racer
Nepa ripped Ortola off his bike, who then had to sprint in the other direction
In a crazy turn of events, Nepa then has to wrestle his rival off his bike, before Ortola realizes his mistake and has to turn back to get into his own vehicle.
It ultimately became a day to forget for Ortola, who crashed again and failed to finish the race, while Nepa came home in 18th.
Fans were quick to react on social media to the crazy moment, with one person writing: ‘Bro forgot he switched teams this year.’
Ortola has won races before, but Sunday ended in a DNF and was one to forget for the Spaniard
Nepa rides his MTA Team bike during qualifying, the day before Ortola tried to steal it
Another said: “Funniest thing I’ve seen in a while,” while a fan commented: “I’ve NEVER seen that before.”
At the other end of the standings, David Alonso, racing for the CFMoto Valresa Aspar Team, finished first overall, scoring 25 points in the championship.
The Colombian started on pole and finished on the top step of the podium after dominating the 14-lap race.