Fabio Di Giannantonio criticised Alex Marquez for “a dangerous manoeuvre” which took both riders out of contention in the Qatar MotoGP race.
Di Giannantonio and Marquez were running in the top five, when the Gresini rider launched an audacious move on the Italian and made contact.
Both riders ran wide and suffered damage, with the Spanish rider receiving a long lap penalty for the incident.
Di Giannantonio only managed to finish 16th while Marquez finished 7th after a move the Italian branded as “strange and dangerous”.
“An eventful race. My start was really good, I was there fighting for the top, because today I had the pace to make a podium,” said Di Giannantonio via Crash.net.
“Then a strange manoeuvre by Alex. A dangerous manoeuvre by Alex.
“It’s a pity because I think that a mistake like this is not great in our level of riders in this championship. It’s a bit on the limit, especially for the penalty that we receive in case of [making] these mistakes.
“I think that we have to work for the future because at the end, the rider that’s completely destroyed my race finished in 7th [6th after Maverick Vinales’ penalty] and I lost any chance of doing a good race.”
Explaining the incident, Alex Marquez admitted he “made a mistake” and accepted he deserved a long lap penalty for the incident.
“I tried to attack [back] on Turn 12 but it was not the moment, not the place,” Marquez said.
I completely made a mistake in that point, so I want to say sorry to him and his team.
“It was a long lap, which I accept. It’s fair.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio: ‘Most important thing’ is Jorge Martin’s health
The Italian believes he would have had the pace to make the podium, but a further contact with Joan Mir saw the VR46 rider given a drop one position penalty.
Di Giannantonio then had to take avoiding action when World Champion Jorge Martin crashed directly in front of him.
It appeared the Italian had made contact with the Spaniard’s chest, who suffered six broken ribs and a collapsed lung on his return from injury.
“We had the potential to make a podium, if you look at my pace, it was amazing. But most of all, I’m so happy that Jorge Martin seems [relatively] OK,” he said.
“This is the most important thing because I know how dangerous this sport is. He knows. Everybody knows. And to have him OK today is a great thing.”
Branding Marquez ‘dangerous’ is bit of a long shot isn’t it? He seems to stay out of trouble and has been drama free. At least more so than most anyway.