Marquez through to Q2 at MotoGP Czech GP despite late crash

Current MotoGP runner-up Alex Marquez narrowly secured a direct pass to Q2 on Friday, crashing with seven minutes left on the clock during the official practice session. 

Along with his brother Marc Marquez, the Gresini rider is the only rider on the MotoGP grid who has qualified in the top 10 every Friday, advancing directly to Q2. However, in practice for the Czech Grand Prix, Alex Marquez came very close to elimination. 

With seven minutes left in the session, the Spaniard went down at Turn 7. Despite his injured left hand, Marquez rapidly got up from the gravel and went to find a scooter to return to the pits on in order to find his second bike. The clock was against him, but so were the circumstances. 

“I was going to grab the first scooter that was on the road,” Alex explained at the end of the day. “But I realised it was Pecco’s [Francesco Bagnaia’s] father’s bike, and I decided to steal another one!” 

In the television footage, the crash occurred with seven minutes left in the session. Eleven seconds later, Marquez met Pecco Bagnaia’s father on the road. He made a move to grab the bike, but continued straight ahead when he saw another scooter arriving in the background. 

Marquez quickly jumped on to ride as a passenger, but in the next broadcast shot of the Gresini rider arriving at the pit box, he was riding the bike alone. 

“The owner of the scooter wanted to come with me to the pit box, but he got stuck,” laughed Marquez afterwards. 

After leaving the scooter, Marquez ran through the Gresini pit box at full speed. With three minutes left in the session and just four after the crash, he was back on track. He completed a flying run, shaved his lap time, and qualified ninth. 

“When they go well, these things are cool,” the Spaniard said. “All the Ducatis need to improve in the wet, except for Marc. I was saved by the bell, but there are situations that have to be avoided.” 

Another complication was that Marquez had surgery for a fracture in the second finger of his left hand on June 30 and remains in recovery, which means he must avoid accidents as much as possible. 

“I didn’t do anything unusual in the fall,” said the younger Marquez brother. “I was probably riding a little too soft. 

“When I fell, I didn’t remember the injury to my hand. In fact, I only remembered when I hit the gravel, and then I actually picked it up. And that’s because it doesn’t hurt, so that’s a good sign.”