A 57-year-old pilot died after an accident in a motorcycle competition at the Interlagos race track, in the south of São Paulo, on Saturday (30).
João Eloi was participating in a stage of the SuperSport 400cc – School, valid for the ninth stage of SuperBike Brasil, when he suffered a fall. The death was announced through a post on the organization’s Instagram profile. Eloi, who was from São Caetano do Sul, in Greater São Paulo, was taken by an ambulance to the emergency room within the circuit itself, where he was pronounced dead.
The SuperBike organization said it would provide assistance to the rider’s family.
In a statement, the City of São Paulo said that the José Carlos Pace race track meets the conditions and safety standards to host national motorcycling competitions, according to a term issued by the Brazilian Motorcycling Confederation.
“The public administration is responsible for the transfer of the track, and the organizers of each event are responsible for complying with the security and sporting measures, provided for in the Agreement signed with the Public Ministry of the State of São Paulo.”
In June, pilot Lorenzo Somaschini, 9, died after staying at Albert Einstein Hospital for four days. He suffered a motorcycle accident during the first free practice session of the Jr Cup, valid for the 4th stage of SuperBike Brasil, at the Autódromo de Interlagos, on Friday (14).
According to the race direction, Lorenzo fell at the exit of the Pinheirinho curve. The pilot was treated at the scene by the medical team in an ICU ambulance. He was then taken to the race track’s emergency room, where his clinical condition stabilized. After this procedure, medical removal was carried out in a mobile ICU at Hospital Geral da Pedreira, where he remained until the early hours of Saturday (15), following all medical protocols until transfer to Hospital Albert Einstein.
The deaths of Eloi and Somaschini add to others in recent years during races in the category in Interlagos. In 2019, two incidents were recorded.
In April of that year, Maurício Paludete died after suffering an accident after the end of the race. After the checkered flag, he lost control of the bike on the pit straight, went through Senna’s S and hit the guard rail.
Two months later, Daniel Berto, 35, died after losing control of his motorcycle during warm-up training for the race while passing through the Pinheirinho curve.
In relation to these occurrences, SuperBike Brasil states that motorcycle racing is a risky sport and that is why it has a safety committee with professionals from different areas. “All occurrences always generate investigations with the aim of investigating causes and possible prevention”, says the organization. “Interlagos has the best asphalt in the country and in the same conditions as the best circuits in the world.”
