Now, according to Motorsport.com, the Australian Grand Prix practice session came to a sudden halt after a bizarre collision between Alex Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi heading into Turn 4. The afternoon outing had to be red-flagged to clear debris after the Aprilia MotoGP rider slammed into the rear of the Gresini machine.
Bezzecchi had been tailing the Gresini rider in the opening minutes, and the two took different lines through Turn 3, named after Australian legend Casey Stoner. After running slightly wide, the Italian tried to dive past the Spaniard, misjudged the gap, and clattered straight into the Ducati. The impact ripped a significant chunk of bodywork off the Aprilia before the Italian slid into the gravel at Turn 4, briefly trapping his right leg under the bike.
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.
Thankfully, the rider was uninjured and made it back to the garage, but the mess on the asphalt forced race control to wave the red flag. Marquez played down the drama afterward while making it crystal clear he had nowhere to go. "I was ahead. I was on the normal line, in the normal rhythm," the 30-year-old said.
"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," Marquez added. Bezzecchi offered his own version of events to Sky Italia, pointing to the infamous Phillip Island winds as a culprit. "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," he explained, noting that the heavy gusts made tight following incredibly tricky.
Despite the chaotic start, Bezzecchi bounced back in style to set the fastest time of the day, spearheading an impressive 1-2-4-5 showing for Aprilia. Marquez had his own late drama, tumbling at the exact same corner during his final time attack. Fortunately, an earlier effort kept him safely inside the top ten in sixth place, securing a direct spot in Q2.
The four-time grand prix winner confessed he is still feeling the effects of his right shoulder injury, suffered back in May during a nasty smash with KTM's Pedro Acosta at the Catalan Grand Prix. "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," Marquez concluded.
