One rider who particularly appreciates Toprak Razgatlioglu's 'fantastic' achievement in overcoming a serious lung injury to win last year’s WorldSBK title is former Red Bull Rookies rival Joan Mir.

It’s almost a forgotten moment in Mir’s career, but the future MotoGP champion was hospitalised during his rookie premier-class season after a huge testing accident at B🅰rno in August 2019.

A technical failure caused Mir to lose control of his Suzuki into Turn 1 at 300km/h, the resulting accident sending his GSX-RR over the trackside bar🎀riers while ambulances rushed to attend to Mir.

Mir was airlifted to a local hospital where a ‘pul𒈔monary contusion’ to his lungs was diagnosed. Upon returning to Spain, he was transferred directly to another hospital in Barcelona for further treatment.

“I was in the ICU. I remember that after one week, I started to stand up. It took that long,” Mir, now a factory Honda rider, told wuqian0821.com.

“The thi🌳ng is we didn't make a lot of media, the cameras were not filming what really happened.

"We didn't make a documentary! But t🍌hat doesn't mean it was not hard!” he smiled.

After missing two events, Mir returned to MotoGP action and later claimed the best result🍷 of his rookie season with fifth place at Phillip Island.

But the injury took a long time to fully heal, physicall𝄹y and mentally.

“It was very hard,” 💙he continued. “I lost all my strength because when you are one-two weeks in [hospital], you stop doing everything, you lose weight.

“It was also very hard to get back on the bike, because my [accident]𓆉 was💫 a mechanical problem.

“So then you have to trust the bike ♌again. It was a veryꦺ difficult challenge.”

“After two months there was still some blood”

“After two months there w𓄧as still some blood and some air bubbles in theꩵ lungs.

“It was hard. A very, very nasty crash. Probably one of the w🐽orst I would say that I’ve seen.

“We should have made a documentary𝕴 [to record it all]! But when you are living through it, everything happens so fast.

“It’s only ꦆwhen you look back that you realise the🌼 difficulty.”

Yet just one season later, Mir was crowned the 2020 MotoGP c🎶hampion. 

“A year later, that's fantastic,” he grinned.

Also ‘fantastic’ꦆ was Razgatliog♓lu's achievement last year.

The Turkish star was romping towards BMW’s first WorldSBK crown when he suffered a collapsed lung in a brutal accident with a barrier at Magny-Cours, ending a 13-race win streak and forcing him out of two round꧃s.

However, Razgatliog♌lu returned to claim the title.

“For sure what Toprak did was fantastic, to get the title with all that ext🐟ra difficultly," said Mir.

"So I really congratulate him. He was the strongest las🧜t season.

“I'm very happy for him. We’ve known each oꦯther since the Rookies Cup in 2014 and he's a nice guy.”

Reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin won the 2014 Rookies Cup from Mir, with Razgatlioglu taking a race w🦹inಌ on his way to sixth.

🌼Martin joined the Moto3 world championship in 2015, when Mir won races in the CEV Junior series and made his GP debut as a wild-card.

Meanwhile, Razgatlioglu began a different path, eventually leading to double World Superbike title glory, by winn🐓ing the European Superstock🌜 600 Championship.

Razgatlioglu continues꧟ to be intermittently linked with MotoGP and, perhaps if BMW commits to the premier class, could again finᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚd himself on the grid alongside Martin and Mir once again.