Alex Marquez has blamed Marco Bezzecchi for their collision in Australian Grand Prix Practice, saying the Aprilia MotoGP rider ‘miscalculated’ his move.
Bezzecchi was following Gresini rider Marquez in the opening minutes of the session, with the two riders taking different lines into Turn 3, named after Australian legend Casey Stoner.
After running slightly wide into the corner, Bezzecchi came back and tried to pass the Spaniard, only to slam into the rear of the Ducati.
Losing a significant chunk of bodywork from his Aprilia after the contact, the Italian went straight into Turn 4 and fell over the gravel, with his right leg getting briefly trapped under the bike.
Bezzecchi was uninjured in the incident and was able to return to the garage, but race control had to red flag the session to clear debris from the track.
In his written media session, Marquez played down the significance of the incident, but made it clear that there was nothing he could have done to avoid it.
“I was ahead. I was on the normal line, in the normal rhythm,” said the 30-year-old.
“I think his idea was to overtake me at that point, because he was faster than me, but he calculated a little bit wrong. But nothing happened, so it's ok, it's like this and that's it.”
Bezzecchi was able to bounce back from the incident and set the fastest time of the day, leading a 1-2-4-5 result for Aprilia.
Explaining the incident from his point of view, he told Sky Italia: “These things can happen. We were very close; he braked in a spot I hadn’t expected. I just grazed him, but then I went onto the grass and slipped.”
The Italian admitted that the weather was a contributing factor in their clash, with Phillip Island famous for its strong and unpredictable winds.
“There was a lot of wind and when I was close it was difficult to avoid,” he said. “This is why I touched his leg, but in the end, nothing crazy. It's OK.”
Marquez crashed at the same corner during his final time attack in the session, but he was fortunate to get into Q2 as his previous lap time was good enough for sixth place.
The four-time grand prix winner admitted that he is still struggling with his right shoulder, which he broke during a nasty collision with KTM’s Pedro Acosta at the Catalan Grand Prix in May.
“I took the best place to crash in Australia – Turn 4,” he joked. “It was not a big crash, I was just trying to improve. I was improving. Already, the lap before, I made a mistake in Turn 10, so right side also.
“On the change direction, I'm still suffering a little bit on the physical side and I'm not feeling good. When I'm trying to push and you are really on the limit, all the physical [elements] are important, so I made that small mistake.”
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