Bezzecchi hit back at Fernandez’s annoyance: “I know all about that sort of thing”

Starting from second on the grid, Marco Bezzecchi had secured a prime starting position for Sprint No. 17 of the 2026 season. Behind Raúl Fernández, but ahead of Jorge Martín and Márquez, the third-placed rider in the World Championship headed into the 13-lap race. However, his bid to close the gap in the hunt for the still-possible World Championship title came to nothing.

The short race had only been underway for a few seconds – or a hundred metres – when the black No. 72 RS-GP spun off the track. What had happened? Marc Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio had got off to such a good start from third and fourth on the grid that four motorbikes reached Turn 1 side by side.

Bezzecchi and Fernández, who were both on the outside, had to correct their lines and, following a chain reaction, both went down. In the words of Marco Bezzecchi: “Actually, it was nothing more than a normal racing incident. In Turn 1, it regularly happens that several riders get very close to one another – then you have to adjust your line accordingly.”

Bezzecchi continued: “That’s what I did too – and I quickly felt a touch and went down – that’s racing. Which is a real shame, because we’d done a very good job up to that point; there would certainly have been plenty of potential.”

Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez had reacted much more angrily and had also vented his frustration at ‘Bez’. The Italian was more explicit: “After the start, I was simply trying to find my ideal point for braking and turning in. I wasn’t trying to hold him up; it wouldn’t have been worth throwing the race away in that corner. If Raul’s angry, I’m sorry, but quite honestly, he touched me – so there’s no reason for either of us to be angry. I don’t want to waste any more energy on it.”

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Bezzecchi am Boden, Fernandez applaudiert

Foto: Gold and Goose

The fact that the crashed co-favourite for the sprint hadn’t lost his sense of humour was evident from an added remark: “In situations like that, it’s only natural to be very upset at first. I can’t think of anyone who knows more about this sort of thing than I do. When Raul ‘clapped’, I just thought: ‘I’m a good lad.’

There’s less to laugh about when you look at the World Championship standings. Following the crash, the gap to the new leader widened to 59 points. Team-mate Jorge Martin, who finished fourth, now has a 55-point lead over Marco Bezzecchi.