It’s becoming less and less common, but a motorbike catching fire – or a car – has been a constant feature of motorsport throughout history.
It has been seen on the track, in the pit lane and after an accident, but it rarely happens in a pit box. Yet, that is precisely what happened to Matthew Scholtz in the middle of an interview.
The American was being interviewed by the championship website MotoAmerica, to talk about the private pre-season testing that is taking place at the Buttonwillow circuit.
There, the American was assessing his chances of winning the title this season while his mechanics were carrying out repairs on his bike, a Yamaha R1 of the Westby Yamaha Racing Superbike team.
Suddenly, the machine started to burn and the rider saw the interviewer feeling the heat, so the pair ran away.
Fortunately, all was well, as one of the mechanics quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the fire.
In fact, Scholtz was able to return to action, although it took his team several hours to rebuild his bike frame.
It also happened to Matthew Scholtz in 2019
It so happens that the American rider, and this team, already experienced something similar in 2019, when his Yamaha caught fire but in the pit lane.
It is assumed that a minor oil or fuel spill was the cause of the fire.
