Valentino Rossi's rider confronts Marc Marquez over controversial Qatar crash
Diggia called out Marquez post-race (Credit: Apex Agency)
Connor Andrews is Formula 1 and MotoGP writer for GPblog and various outlets. Having worked in motorsport for 15 years for leading companies, he has interviewed the sports biggest names and attended multiple Grands Prix.
The Qatar Grand Prix Sprint Race was certainly heated, and things didn’t simmer down on the way to the podium.
The Lusail event saw Marc Marquez win and Marco Bezzecchi’s title chances ended by a clash between the pair on lap 4.
Heading into Turn 1, Bezzecchi lunged down the inside on Marquez who took a wide line and came back in, colliding heavily with the Aprilia rider.
Such was the force of the impact, Marquez’s race suit’s airbag was triggered, but he managed to stay on his bike as Bezzecchi slid out.
His Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin took advantage of the situation, overtaking Marquez for the lead, only to drop back to third behind the championship leader and VR46 Racing’s Fabio Di Giannantonio.
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‘Diggia’ felt he was lucky to stay on his bike with Bezzecchi sliding out right in front of him, and told Marquez as much on the way to the podium.
Valentino Rossi's rider challenges Marquez over Bezzecchi crash
In golf-cart footage captured by MotoGP, the Italian is heard saying: “F*** Bezzecchi crashed right in front of me.”
He then turns around to Marquez and adds: “Man, you have to look before closing the line like that, he was on the inside.”
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Intriguingly, Martin appears ready to defend Marquez, saying ‘he was the one…’ before Marquez speaks up himself.
“I didn’t do anything unusual, I took that line every lap,” the impending 10-time world champion replies.
Di Giannantonio finishes: “He went up the inside, it was a hard impact.”
The exchange takes on extra significance given that ‘Diggia’ is racing for the team of Marquez’s most bitter rival, Valentino Rossi.
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His overtake on Martin on the final lap also means that Marquez can win his 10th title in Sunday’s Grand Prix should he win and Martin not finish, an eventuality that wouldn’t have been possible had Martin finished second in the Sprint Race.
A 10th title would also take Marquez past Di Giannantonio’s team boss and idol Rossi, who is currently tied with Marquez on nine championships.
Similarly, an eighth in the premier class would equal Giacomo Agostini’s all-time record.
Someone who appeared to agree with Diggia’s take on the crash between Marquez and Bezzecchi was Aprilia CEO Massimo Brivio who shook his head and applauded sarcastically when the stewards announced no action for the incident.
Bezzecchi, who is also a former VR46 Academy rider, also commented on the crash in an interview with Sky Italy.
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Bezzecchi responds as Marquez closes in on surpassing Rossi's record
He said: “I tried to take my line, I saw that Marc had gone a bit wide and I took my trajectory.
“But then the contact came and the one who ended up on the ground was me. I'm having a hard time telling you how the stewards reasoned or giving you a different opinion, because it would be a waste of time and energy for me.
“In the end, that was the decision and I just have to respect it, trying to sort myself out for tomorrow.
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“Getting angry, arguing or who knows what wouldn't change anything. You have the images, everyone can judge them as they want, from their own point of view. Basically, that's what I think."
The biggest debate around the crash appears to be around whether or not Marquez took his usual line for the corner, and Bezzecchi says he took his own.
He continued: "I'm able to stay a little tighter on the corners. This was more or less evident throughout the weekend.
“Then there was a bit of a tussle, but I managed to get a bit of a slipstream and stay close to him.
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“I saw that he was braking really hard and I knew he would go a bit further, so I just tried to follow my line.
“Honestly, during the corner I couldn't even see him because my head was tilted to the inside. At a certain point I felt a little bump and found myself on the ground."
Bezzecchi's title hopes are over, but he opted against criticising Marquez (Credit: Apex Agency)
Marquez defends his racing line after controversial Qatar collision
Marquez, meanwhile, was adamant he didn’t do anything differently for the corner.
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He argued: "I was in front, I didn't do anything strange in that corner.
“I think Bezzecchi was just half a second faster than me on the lap. I don't know if he expected to pass me on the inside there, but I brake late at Turn 1, go a bit wide, come back, do a pickup... if you look from a helicopter, every lap is the same, whether I'm alone or with another rider."
"In the end, the one who comes from behind is the one who knows what the situation is."
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