Video: Petrucci brings down Quartararo after huge highside

This (below) is the huge highside that took both Danilo Petrucci and Fabio Quartararo out of Sunday's Australian MotoGP.

The pair were among several riders to lose the rear on entry to Turn 2 at the start of the Phillip Island race.

Video: Petrucci brings down Quartararo after huge highside

This (below) is the huge highside that took both Danilo Petrucci and Fabio Quartararo out of Sunday's Australian MotoGP.

The pair were among several riders to lose the rear on entry to Turn 2 at the start of the Phillip Island race.

But while Quartararo stayed upright and headed for the grass, just behind him Petrucci was launched into the air after being forced onto the dirty part of the track. The resulting highside saw Petrucci fired cannonball-style into Quartararo, also bringing the Frenchman down.

Fortunately, escaped serious injury and will aim to be back on track for opening practice at Sepang in Malaysia on Friday.

“At Turn 2 Marquez came in on me on the inside, I was forced to go wide and onto a dirty line, lost control of the bike and had a highside that unfortunately also involved Quartararo," Petrucci said.

"I’m really sorry for him and also for the fact that I probably missed a chance to get onto the podium. My ankle is hurting badly, but after a first check in the circuit, it seems that nothing is broken so I hope to be OK for Malaysia.”

Rookie star Quartararo, who injured his own ankle in a highside on Friday, added:

"If Petrucci hadn’t hit me I would probably have run onto the grass and lost a lot of positions anyway, but it’s still my rookie year and I’ll learn from it. I’ll now take the opportunity to rest and recuperate as much as possible before the next race in Sepang where I want to reward the circuit and Petronas with a strong performance.”

Both Petrucci and Quartararo were using the hardest rear tyre, a likely factor in the accident.

"Both were on hard tyres, both had a little slide at the same time, and it was basically the opposite of Silverstone where Fabio took out Dovizioso. The most important thing is that both riders are okay," said Petronas Yamaha team manager Wilco Zeelenberg.

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