MARCO BEZZECCHI ITA MOONEY VR46 RACING TEAM DUCATI MotoGP
Marco Bezzecchi has blamed his crash at Stowe during the British Grand Prix on getting sucked into Francesco Bagnaia’s slipstream on entry to the bend, causing him to accelerate.
The VR46 pilot looked to have pace in hand as he stalked the factory Ducati pilot in the early stages of the encounter having lost out to his countryman moments prior, Bezzecchi beginning to search for way a through as the race approached a quarters distance.
The Italian was tucked up behind Bagnaia entering Stowe on the sixth circulation before seemingly missing his braking point, his resulting over-speed causing him to tuck the front of the Desmosedici and end his race in the gravel – ceding 20 points to title rival Bagnaia as a consequence due to the reigning world champion eventually claiming the runners-up position in the race.
Bezzecchi explained post-race that a brief lock-up of his front wheel on initial braking forced him to have to release his brakes in order to not immediately crash, with the extra entry speed that resulted causing him to enter Bagnaia’s slipstream and accelerate even further – Bezzecchi conceding he had no choice but to “brake more” and ultimately crash.
“I was strong in that part of the track (Stowe), but as soon as I braked on that lap I had a big front lock in the first phase of braking, so I had to release the brakes slightly,” explained Bezzecchi.
“As soon as I did this I went inside the slipstream of Pecco (Bagnaia), so instead of slowing down I was accelerating so I had to brake more, but the front was already on the limit and I lost it.
“I saw more movement from the soft (front tyre), I had a couple of shakes during the previous laps but overall it wasn’t a consistent problem and I just had to move a bit more before braking – I didn’t think I touching the brakes like that (prior to crash) would give that big front lock.
“I didn’t look at the (front tyre) pressure, but normally at this track with these temperatures it is not a big issue.”
Bezzecchi insisted that he was “not on the limit” trying to chase down Bagnaia, adding that he was “sad” that his early calamity not only cost him the chance for fight for supremacy, but also valuable ground in the title race too.
“I was not on the limit behind Pecco, I was trying to stay close of course because I saw that until that moment we were quite far in front of Aleix (Espargaro), and I thought I could stay with them (leaders,)” continued the two-time premier class race victor.
“For the championship (loss of points) I’m sad but I’m not looking at this particularly, I’m more sad about the race because I’m not sure if I could win but I know I could fight for it.
“We worked well in every condition, and it’s a shame to finish like this so I’m sorry for the team.”
Keyword: Bezzecchi: Bagnaia slipstream main cause of British GP crash