Marc Marquez, Di Giannantonio in tense exchange over Bezzecchi clash
MotoGP’s cameras caught a tense exchange between Marquez and Di Giannantonio
A behind-the-scenes MotoGP video has revealed a tense exchange between Marc Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio over the former’s clash with Marco Bezzecchi in the Qatar sprint.
Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi needs to stop Marquez from outscoring him by eight points across the Qatar Grand Prix weekend to keep his fading title hopes alive to Portugal.
But that took a serious knock on Saturday in the sprint when the pair collided in the sprint on lap four at Turn 1 in a hugely controversial incident.
Bezzecchi crashed as a result of the contact, while Marquez went on to win the race to set up his first title match point for today’s race.
“You have to look before closing the line”
Marquez said he didn’t do anything strange in that moment, as the FIM MotoGP stewards also cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Bezzecchi offered a reserved review of the incident when speaking to TNT.
“You saw already the images,” he said.
“At the end, I tried to keep my line, and the contact happened, so at the end I couldn't really do anything to avoid it.
“At the end, the one that crashed was me, but it’s like this. So we move forward, and we try to bounce back tomorrow.”
However, VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio seems to fully back Bezzecchi in this incident, following a tense exchange with Marquez.
A video posted by the official MotoGP website captured Di Giannantonio telling Marquez: “Man, you have to look before closing the line like that. He was on the inside.”
Marquez responded: “I didn’t do anything unusual. I took that line every lap.”
Di Giannantonio then added: “He went up the inside; it was a hard impact.”
Intriguingly, Jorge Martin appeared to defend Marquez when Di Giannantonio told the Spaniard that he had to look where he was.
“No, he was the one who,” Martin says, before being cut off.
Ducati team orders will be harder to enforce
Di Giannantonio and Marquez already have a tense relationship, following a collision between the pair at the US Grand Prix earlier this season.
The Italian also races for Marquez’s arch rival Valentino Rossi’s team, and has been entrenched in the VR46 Academy during his time with the Ducati satellite squad.
But Di Giannantonio’s comments also suggest he has little desire to aid Marquez’s title bid should Ducati decide to employ team orders.
