Jason Dupasquier, The Rising Star From Switzerland Has Gone

JAKARTA - A minute's silence was observed ahead of the Italian Grand Prix race at the Mugello Circuit on Sunday in memory of the late Swiss driver Jason Dupasquier, who died at the age of 19 after being involved in a Moto3 qualifying crash.

Dupasquier, who was in his second season at lightweight, crashed while riding at Turns 9 and 10 of the Mugello Circuit and was hit by at least one motorbike, before being dragged along the track.

A vehicle from FIM medics was dispatched to the crash site to treat Dupasquier before the driver was flown to Careggi hospital in Florence.

On Sunday, the hospital finally announced Dupasquier had died after suffering a brain injury and undergoing surgery on his chest on Saturday night.

"The FIM, IRTA, MSMA, and Dorna Sport offer their deepest condolences to Dupasquier's family, friends, team, and loved ones," the official MotoGP website revealed as reported by Antara.

Dupasquier's team, Pruestel GP, has withdrawn from the race and Tom Luthi, the Swiss Moto2 class rider, has also ruled out to accompany the Dupasquier family in the hospital.

Japan's Ayumu Sasaki and Spain's Jeremy Alcoba were the other two drivers involved in the crash with Dupasquier, although both escaped serious injuries.

Dupasquier's Career

Dupasquier has a promising career in Moto3 after collecting 27 points from five races at the start of the season to occupy 10th place in the standings before the Italian GP.

As reported by the official MotoGP website, Dupasquier started his career in Supermoto and became the Swiss national champion several times.

He then switched to circuit racing by claiming the ADAC NEC Championship Moto3 title in 2013 before advancing to the world junior championship in 2017.

After steady progress in 2017, Dupasquier came close to making his Red Bull Rookies Cup debut in 2018 before breaking his left femur in the second race of the Moto3 world junior championship.

Skipping the Red Bull Rookies Cup, Dupasquier bounced back the following year and finished ninth in the final Moto3 world junior championship standings which later led to his promotion to the world championship in 2020.

Dupasquier debuted in Moto3 with the Prustel GP team last year despite failing to score points until the end of the season and slumping to 28th place.

In 2021, Dupasquier made a surprise start to the season by finishing in the top five in the first free practice session of the Qatar Grand Prix before clinching his first career top ten finish on Sunday.

Finishing with two points at the Doha and Portugal GPs, Dupasquier claimed his best race result with P7 at Jerez.

The Grief of Motorcycle Racing

The motorcycling world is mourning Dupasquier's death, which serves as a reminder of how much risk a racer faces every weekend on the track.

"Rest in peace Jason," Jack Miller wrote on Instagram.

Fabio Quartararo always remembers Dupasquier when he bulldozed the Mugello track and dedicated his victory at the Italian GP to the young rider.

"This is for Jason," Quartararo said.

"It's a strange day, full of emotions, every time I go past turn nine I think of Jason," said the Frenchman.

"Not a good feeling, you won but we lost one of our friends."