Raul Fernandez slams "unprofessional" Marco Bezzecchi after dramatic Indonesia crash

Raul Fernandez has launched a scathing attack on Marco Bezzecchi after the pair crashed on their way into the first braking zone of the MotoGP sprint at Mandalika.

Saturday began in the best possible way for Fernandez, who secured his first MotoGP pole position, but ended in disaster, with the Trackhouse rider on the ground, suffering a fractured finger and unsure whether he would be able to line up for Sunday’s race.

The chain of events left the Spaniard seething, prompting him to lash out at factory Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi, whom he accused of deliberately causing the crash.

As they approached the first corner, the factory Aprilia rider ran wide and forced Fernandez towards the outside kerb. As both riders began leaning into the right-hander, the so-called accordion effect prompted Bezzecchi to suddenly pick up his bike and lose grip.

The two RS-GPs collided and both ended up in the gravel, watching a victory that either could realistically have claimed slip away. The Spaniard’s ironic applause from the grandstand was a visual expression of the anger he subsequently voiced in front of the microphones.

Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

“Right now, I’m a bit numb. The fury, the anger I have inside me outweighs the pain. I’ve broken a finger; it’s a small fracture. I’ll try in the warm-up tomorrow because I’ve been declared fit to ride, but my hand is very swollen,” Fernandez began, speaking calmly but taking a decidedly combative stance towards one of his theoretical team leaders.

“The worst thing is the frustration of knowing that Marco did something he shouldn’t have done. You can crash, and we’ll get back up and move on. But it’s really ugly when we both arrive at the first braking zone knowing that we’re both Aprilia riders and that we have the pace to put us slightly ahead of the rest, only for him to focus solely on pushing me off the kerb under braking."

“In doing so, he left the door open for two Ducatis. I feel really bad for my team, and I feel really bad for Aprilia, but what he did was unprofessional.

“Marco wanted to get to that braking zone ahead of me, and that was all he was focused on, without thinking that we weren’t racing on our own.”

The Spaniard acknowledged that a meeting had taken place before the sprint, during which he had made his strategy for the opening moments clear.

“The message before the race was that we shouldn’t get in each other’s way because we had really good pace. Before the race, I said what I was going to do. I made it clear when I was going to do it, and then I got absolutely clattered and taken out,” Fernández said.

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