Raul Fernandez slams ‘unprofessional’ Marco Bezzecchi after MotoGP sprint clash

Raul Fernandez says fellow Aprilia MotoGP rider Marco Bezzecchi “wasn’t professional” after the pair collided at the start of the Indonesian Grand Prix sprint.

Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez claimed a maiden pole position on Saturday morning and looked likely to take victory in the sprint.

But his race ended after just one corner, after he tangled with factory Aprilia counterpart Marco Bezzecchi at the first corner.

Bezzecchi was forced to check up as Fabio Di Giannantonio pushed Marc Marquez slightly wide on his inside, with Fernandez unable to avoid contact.

Trackhouse boss Davide Brivio blamed Marquez and Jorge Martin for causing the crash, though the FIM stewards deemed it a racing incident.

Fernandez in doubt for Indonesian GP due to injury

Fernandez made his feelings clear about the crash in the gravel afterwards, and raged against Bezzecchi when speaking to DAZN.

He also revealed he has suffered a hand injury, which has put his participation in the grand prix in doubt.

“Right now I’m a bit numb. The fury, the rage I have inside, is stronger than the pain,” Fernandez told the Spanish broadcaster.

“I have a broken finger, a small fracture. I’ll try it out in the warm-up tomorrow, because they’ve declared me fit, but my hand is very swollen.

“The worst thing of all is the frustration of knowing that Marco did something he shouldn’t have done.

“You can crash, and you get up, that’s it.

“But it’s awful that we both arrive at the first braking point, knowing that we’re both Aprilia riders and that we have a pace that puts us a little ahead of the rest, and he just focuses on pushing me off the kerb under braking.

“With that, he’s left the door open for two Ducatis. I feel terrible for my team, I feel terrible for Aprilia, but what he did wasn’t professional.

“Marco wanted to get to that braking point in front of me, and that’s all he focused on, without considering that we weren’t racing alone.”

“The message was not to mess with each other”

The subject of team orders among Aprilia riders, with Martin and Bezzecchi in the championship battle, was brought up earlier in the weekend.

For now, there are none, but Fernandez said Aprilia riders were told “not to mess with each other” before the sprint.

“The message before the race was not to mess with each other, because we had very good pace,” he said.

“Before the race, I said what I was going to do. Why did I say it? Because I got hit so hard I was knocked out.”