Aprilia confirm no injuries for Bezzecchi after huge crash in Assen

Aprilia's nightmares continued in Assen as once again their points leader, Marco Bezzecchi, crashed out early in the main race on Sunday and handed away a huge advantage to the rest of the field. His crash, along with Ai Ogura's sensational victory, mean that the top five riders in the title hunt are now separated by a mere 40 points, the top six only separated by 63.

The trend in the opening round of the year was one of total dominance from Bezzecchi, at least on Sundays, though he had already given away some big points opportunities by crashing out of the sprints in Thailand, USA, Jerez and Czechia. After a frustrating P4 in Saturday's sprint, Bezzecchi knew he had to make up for it on Sunday, but a distrous start left the Italian behind Marc Marquez at the end of Lap 1. The pressure may have been too much as, pushing the limits and closing at high speed through the Ram's Hook, Bezzecchi folded the front and was sent skidding through the gravel at over 100mph.

While his sprint weakness has been something of a trend since the start of the year, 'Bez' was typically able to make up for it on Sunday. Wins in the opening three rounds as well as a sensation home victory in Mugello had ensured a comfortable lead at the top of the championship standings, but things started to spiral dramatically downhill in Hungary.

At the first corner of the first lap at Balaton Park, Bezzecchi's Aprilia teammate, Jorge Martin, made an error in the braking zone and clattered into the pack at the front, taking down Bezzecchi, Fernandez and Ogura, among others.

The point-less weekend was a wake-up call for Aprilia, but things worsened even more at the Czech Grand Prix in Brno when Bezzecchi was handed a race ban for slapping a marshal after his crash during the sprint race. Bezzecchi was remorseful about the highly-publicized incident, and Assen was supposed to represent his redemption as Aprilia look to steer back on course. However, that's not how things played out at the legendary 'Cathedral of Speed'.

Bezzecchi's second lap crash at the Dutch Grand Prix was his first major mistake in Sunday races this year. Despite being taken out in Hungary and serving a ban in Czechia, Bez had finished every other race this season with four wins and a further two podiums, with P4 in Catalonia being his worst race-finish of the year so far.

Assen appears to change things. Not only did the pressure seemingly get to Bezzecchi, but the one mistake proved exceptionally costly, at least in the short term. With Jorge Martin now leading the championship standings, it is clear the Massimo Rivola had a job on his hands if he wants his long-term signing to lift the trophy at the end of the season. Speaking with GP Blog among others at the post-race debrief, Rivola gave the following remarks:

"It’s a shame about Marco’s mistake," said the Aprilia boss, "On a weekend where he had shown such great speed, he should have achieved much more. However, the priority now is to recover as best he can after the bad crash."

"We are just waiting for the very latest news. Luckily, it doesn't seem like anything to worry about."

When asked what the exact cause of the crash was, Rivola replied:

"Simply too fast. Honestly I think the Aprilia was not so strong in [Turn 15]. In all the fast parts of the circuit, the Aprilia normally shows that it has something special. But we need to fulfull and get the maximum with all four bikes."

Bezzecchi has since been cleared from hospital without any injuries and will make his way home ro recover during the one-week break before the German Grand Prix at the legendary Sachsenring.