THE lone witness to the crash which killed MotoGP legend Ángel Nieto in Ibiza says the other driver was at fault.
Nieto, 70, was riding a quad in the Santa Gertrudis area of the island, not far from where he lived, in Santa Eulària, during his holidays.
He suffered serious head injuries and was placed in an induced coma.
Medics began to withdraw the sedation when he showed signs of improvement, but the sudden onset of a massive build-up of fluid on his brain required emergency surgery and medication.
This did not work, and he passed away without regaining consciousness.
According to the witness' statement, the other driver, a 38-year-old German woman living in Ibiza was behind the quad, but not keeping a safe distance.
“The woman did not notice the slow speed of the vehicle in front and impacted it from behind, causing the driver to be flung forward,” the statement, given by a Portuguese woman, says.
“They were very close together. The Fiat hit the quad from behind and the quad driver was thrown clear.”
The German lady – who tested negative for drugs and alcohol during the standard checks at the scene – insisted she had left at least three metres (9'9”) between her Fiat and the quad.
She said Nieto braked sharply and she could not avoid hitting him from behind.
World champion '12+1' times
Born in Zamora (Castilla y León) but raised in Madrid and spending his adult life in the Barcelona area before retiring to Ibiza, Nieto said the MotoGP circuit in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz province) was his favourite, and it has since been named after him.
Over the course of his career, through 50cc, Moto2, Moto3 and MotoGP, Nieto won 90 races and 13 championships – which, superstitiously, he always referred to as '12+1'.
After giving up the sport in 1985, Nieto set up and ran his own team for two years and opened a museum of his life and career in Madrid, although it shut down in 2013.
He was also MotoGP race commentator and ran two teams, the Honda 250 and Vía Digital, from 1998 to 2001.
Among his many anecdotes about his long racing career, Nieto once revealed that he left school and started riding at age 12, meaning his team had to forge his ID so he could pass for 16.
