Japan has strict rules on when participants can begin motorsport. Unlike in Europe, where car racers get experience in licensed karting events from as 10 years old, Japanese racers are unable to begin until much later and are not able to get into cars until aged 18. This explains why so many formulae don't see top-flight Japanese racers until they are in their mid-twenties or even later. And it also explains why those on accelerated schemes into e.g. Formula One are often regarded as mobile chicanes - or worse.

And similar restrictions apply to motorcycle racing.

However, whether the rapid rise of Shoya Tomizawa was in any way to blame for his accident yesterday looks unlikely. Tomizawa was an exceptional talent: he won the first race of the Moto2 class ahead of serious competition from much more experienced riders such as Elias who had dropped down from Moto GP believing his chances of success were greater in the new class.

It is just a week since Canadian Peter Lenz was killed in a crash at the MotoGP meeting in Indianapolis. Lenz was 13 and died after falling off and being hit by another rider. But Lenz was no new boy: he had held a full racing licence at "expert" level from the American Federation of Motorcyclists for more than two years. He was the youngest rider ever to win an AFM authorised race. At ChiefOfficers.Net, we regard Indianapolis as a place waiting for serious accidents - and such an "artificial" circuit that it produces a meeting in which racing is compromised for spectacle. And hot, humid weather created a particularly slippery track that all rider found difficult: Valentino Rossi had yet another accident in practice. Indeed, we did not report on the Indianapolis meeting because, part way through the MotoGP event, our correspondent decided it was too boring to watch and to report on. The MotoGP race had already been aborted by an accident involving four riders. The American authorities were, bizarrely, upbeat saying the Letz' death had been the first in nine years.

Misano has none of those problems. it's an old-fashioned circuit, albeit remodelled and running as a predominantly right-turn track, a reversal from its original construction.

There have been a number of high-profile crashes in the senior event, MotoGP, this season and several of those appear to be related to problems with front forks. Casey Stoner, of Ducati, has switched front forks several times this season, often several times during a race weekend, trying to find a way to stop the front of his bike diving and throwing him into a high-side. Video footage of Valentino Rossi's accident shows the front if his bike diving under braking and then tipping the rider high (perhaps as much as 20 feet - the perspective makes it difficult to judge) into the air.

But Moto2 does not use the same geometry and forks design as MotoGP.

Tomizawa was pushing hard in a pack. He had Alex de Angelis - a vastly more experienced rider - pressing him and, behind him - Scott Redding, even younger and with all the speed and promise to become the UK's first MotoGP Champion for many years. Tomizawa had already passed Redding who had dropped several places having made a small mistake, showing that there is no margin for error in this year's series. The racing was frantic and close.

That's no surprise: Moto2, with its larger grid, is proving to be at least as entertaining as MotoGP which is suffering badly from hugely depleted grids on full size GP circuits. And many of the younger riders, fresh from "cub" racing or 125 are used to riding in closely-matched packs - and on machines with identical engines, MotoGP has placed more emphasis on chassis and rider.

MotoGP has learned some of the lessons of medical care from Formula One: more than any other event, MotoGP is awash with medical teams - indeed, as Tomizawa, de Angelis and Redding slid along the ground, it was medical crews that were ahead of the marshals into the danger zone as bikes continued to blast by at or near racing speed.

Questions have been asked as to why the race was not red-flagged. The simple answer is this: the medics had got all three riders behind the barriers long before the pack came around again; the marshals cleared the track - much of the debris was on the apron alongside the track anyway.

But questions should be asked as to why there was such a hurry to get the injured riders onto stretchers and off the track. Modern high-level motorcycling doesn't like red flags. One member of the medical team is tasked with carrying a large impact-absorbing cushion, bearing the word "Doctor" onto the track and placing it in a position to protect - as much as it can - medics and downed riders. Often, in the recent past, we have seen these in position in gravel traps for several minutes as treatment is given.

That did not happen at Misano. Having fallen and been hit by a near-flat-out de Angelis, Tomizawa was lying straight out on his back. The medics arrived and, without any investigation of his injuries, rolled him, slid a stretcher under him and rolled him onto it. Then they began to run across the gravel trap. Footage shows the front of the stretcher being held up, and the back of the stretcher being picked up. We did not see what led up to it but the bearing of the four is highly suggestive that the back end of the stretcher had been dropped.

Redding was rolling around on the tarmac, clearly in considerable pain. Again, medics ran to him, rolled him, slid the stretcher under him and rolled him back, again with no examination of any description.

Neither man's neck was braced and the hard stretchers provided no cushioning.

de Angelis, dazed, walked away.

The word from Race Direction (the MotoGP equivalent of Race Control) was that Tomizawa and Redding did not have life-threatening injuries.

That, we now know, was not true. Tomizawa was already dying.

In a press conference, Doctor Claudio Macchiagodena of the Clinica Mobile said "Behind the track protection we had one ambulance with the respirator inside and we started immediately all the intensive care for him. The intensive care started behind the protection of the track. Normally when you have a broken arm the ambulance is the same as a taxi, where you put the rider inside and send him quickly. Now it was very important to have the ventilation and two doctors. When he arrived at the medical centre his condition was critical, and we continued the intensive care. We had a lot of doctors but the situation was critical, we had a process for respiration. We checked an abdominal trauma with the scanner because it was a very serious situation not just for the cranial trauma, but for the chest and abdominal."

The news of his condition was misrepresented throughout the rest of the meeting, or at least dramatically understated. Moto2 finished and the only statement, in relation to Tomizawa was that he was being transferred to hospital for further care. Macchiagodena says that was because "he suffered a heart trauma and the best option was to transfer him to hospital in Riccione because it’s very close and because we have two doctors in the ambulance who continued the respiration process... When he arrived in hospital we continued for ten minutes or more... but in the end nothing could be changed for Tomizawa.”

The MotoGP race began, ran and ended with no news.

Should the race have been stopped?

That question invites another question: how far down the line of responsibility should that issue be devolved?

The proximate reason that a red-flag was not required was simply that the downed riders and debris had been cleared by the time the pack came around again. A red flag is required, primarily, for the safety of riders and, by that time, none were being placed at risk.

The more pertinent question is whether the medics that dashed to Tomizawa and Redding should have left them where they were and called for expert help where they lay. It was the decision to move them that led to the lack of need for a red flag.

We should not be hard on the medics: those at the track-side do not call for a red flag. They pass a message - often by gesticulations and shouting or even running to deliver it. Macchiagodena can call for a red flag if the downed rider or the medics are at risk.

A red flag does not mean stop: it means slow down and ride to the grid (or the pits, depending on formula). For an adrenalin-fuelled racer in the midst of a tussle, "slow down" does not mean the same as it does even for the same rider out for a calm Sunday afternoon drive.

And the medics know that.

Count the seconds: the crash itself takes around three seconds for the riders and bikes to come to a standstill. The medics are already on their way from behind the barriers but it still takes them until about fifteen seconds after the crash to get to the riders, the marshals are heading out with their brooms and starting to manhandle the bikes and bigger parts that have been shed in the impact.

If they elect to conduct any examination, if the rider is conscious, that will take 20 seconds. At that point, the decision to move or treat the rider will determine whether the race continues. It's that 20 seconds that is crucial for, if they decide to move, they will take approx 10 seconds to transfer the riders to their stretchers and pick them and all equipment up and head for safety. That will take approx 30 seconds if there are no problems. By that time, the pack is already arriving, snarling, snapping and potentially causing another accident as riders are distracted by the site of medics trying to leave the track with a pal on a stretcher. And another accident would run the risk that the medical teams would be hit : bikes have a tendency to go where the rider is looking.

Why will the bikes still be circulating? Because the decision to red-flag the race is made by a series of committees: the medics at the trackside communicate with their senior doctor; the marshals discuss between themselves: either or both can request a red flag. Race Direction waits to see if either does - after all, they are the people who are, literally, on the ground. But Race Direction also monitors its own pictures and data; where the pack is, how fast it's going, when it will get to the incident and, if it's looking risky, it issues a red flag warning. But that is done by committee, too. But that warning has to get from Race Direction to marshals posts around the track, marshals have to find the red flag and start to wave it. MotoGP does not have Formula One-style flashing lights around the circuit under the direct control of the Race Director and there are no Formula One - style radios or dashboard lights to reinforce the message. Racers expect yellow flags but it takes a moment longer to process a red flag. That moment might be 100 metres at full racing speed. Time from

If they move the riders, after 20 seconds, the downed riders are already on their stretchers. Running through a gravel trap carrying heavy medical equipment and stretchers is not easy. 50 seconds after the crash, they are through the barriers and medical attention can be started. One minute after the crash, motorcycles and debris are away from the racing line. Race Direction can see that there is no risk to other riders or the medics and so do not call a red flag.

The decision to halt a race is not simple: there are many complex factors - not the least of which is television time. Events are closely handled to ensure that there is as little over-run as possible: advertisers want certainty and heaven forbid that coverage of the talking heads before a soccer game are delayed so motor racing fans can watch their sport, notwithstanding that racing fans regularly miss racing programmes because a soccer game has gone into extra time.

But there are also penalties for police overtime if the crowds leave a stadium late with the consequent need for traffic and crowd control. And, if the circuit is not vacated by a specific time, promoters can face substantial penalties.

And what about those announcements? In truth, nothing would have been served by making the situation clearer. For sure - lying to or misleading fans is unforgivable. But it is understandable: we do not have the time of death. It appears that Tomizawa, to all intents and purposes, died at the track or in the ambulance. The official translation of Macchiagodena's comments refers to "respiration." But the context suggests that this, at later points in the explanation, should have been translated as "resuscitation." And that process started in the medical centre before his transfer to hospital. Technically, until a doctor pronounces a patient dead, that patient is still alive.

And so, for at least half an hour, Tomizawa appears to have been legally in a somewhat better state than his medical condition would suggest. Had the announcement been made prior to the MotoGP race, then doubts would have been raised as to whether to proceed. Had that decision been to go ahead or to abandon the meeting, would have been received with dismay - and potentially hostility - by at least a part of the passionate Italian crowd.

Javier Alonso of Dorna said "just a small clarification because it looks like the news that unfortunately Tomizawa had passed away came out before we officially announced it. That was because we wanted to inform the family first. So the first thing we did when we received the news was to inform the family."

That's a very good thing: to get the family out of the public eye to allow private grief away from the spotlight of intrusive media is exactly the right thing to do.

And if the decision was to go ahead, the incident would have played on the minds of the MotoGP riders, several of whom had signs saying, in effect, RIP Peter Lentz and waved them at the cameras on the grid.

On balance, keeping the news of Tomizawa's death until after the end of the meeting was probably the correct thing to do. But saying he was, basically, out of danger was an unacceptable lie.

It's not the first time such a thing has happened in Italy: Ayrton Senna's condition after his fatal crash at Monza was also misrepresented. Seemingly, Italians take bad news better after they have got home or, at least, left the track and become someone else's problem.

Against all of this we have to remember two basic truths:

1. As it says on the signs outside every motor racing venue: "Motor racing is dangerous."

2. Tomizawa chose to do what he did: he was a racer, he wanted to be a racer and he rode with his balls as much as with his head - that's what we - the fans - all demand of the gladiators we suit up and stick into or onto racing machinery.

We thank him for it.

(correction: the official time of death was 14:20.)

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