A lucky MotoGP fan literally put his head on the line for a souvenir from the historic 2022 Mandalika MotoGP race yesterday.
The fan shared on his Instagram post that he was the one who caught Spanish MotoGP racer Aleix Espargaró’s helmet at the conclusion of the race. The fan was all smiles despite getting hit in the head by Espargaró’s flying helmet.
“Look, our friend got the helmet from Aleix. It was a struggle, guys,” his friend said while recording the moment.
“He bumped his head a little but it’s okay,” the friend said.
The Indonesian fan was identified as Vian from Banyuwangi. All smiles, Vian felt lucky that he managed to get the helmet despite rain pouring down.
“I will keep it as a memento,” said Vian.
Meanwhile, conceded that he had a tough time at the race, but he was still in good spirits as he managed to surpass 1 million followers on Instagram.
In his Instagram post last Friday, Espargaró promised his Indonesian fans that would throw his racing helmet to the stands in Mandalika if he reached 1 million followers before Sunday.
“Hey Indonesian fans, if I reach 1M followers before Sunday, after the race I’ll throw my race helmet to the grandstands!” the Aprilia Racing rider wrote on his Instagram @aleixespargaro.
At the time of this article’s publication, the post alone (which was written in Indonesian) has received 330,139 likes.
Espargaró finished 9th at the 2022 Indonesian grand prix race. In total, he has collected 20 points from this race and the Qatar race two weeks earlier.
Though the MotoGP season has just begun, Espargaró currently finds himself 7th in the championship, below his brother Pol Espargaró from Repsol Honda, despite having collected the same number of points.
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