A “rookie error” has seen Fabio Quartararo’s MotoGP championship lead slashed to just 21 points after suffering two crashes in a disastrous Dutch TT in Assen overnight.
Quartararo’s first crash came on lap five, when he slid out after a bold move on Aleix Espargaro, forcing the Spaniard to the gravel to avoid him.
After pitting, Quartararo returned to the track before a second crash at the same corner took him out for good.
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After the race, Quartararo took full responsibility for the clash with Espargaro.
“I just made a rookie mistake and I will have to learn from that – my apologies to Aprillia and Aleix for bringing him to the gravel,” he said.
“It was a bad race, but it is what it is and we will learn for the second half of the season.”
Quartararo blamed the second crash on damage picked up in the first, and wasn’t happy his team sent him back out.
“The team told me to go out, I came in because I had a problem with a sensor on the bike, we go out again and had another crash, that’s it, nothing more.
“It was not my mistake on the second one – it was for sure something not working on the bike.
“They told me to push to try and find something but I was already one lap behind so I didn’t see the sense in going out again.”
The race turned out to be a disaster for Quartararo’s entire Yamaha squad, as teammate Franco Morbidelli also crashed out.
The Yamaha rider said he was uninjured in the crash, but admitted his championship bid – which had received a massive injection by a win in the last race in Germany while his two closest title rivals crashed out – had taken a hit.
“The championship is never finished until the last race. It is very long but doing these stupid mistakes is a good way to lose points, so I have to learn.”
The race was won by Francesco Bagnaia. Espargaro recovered to finish fourth, and now sits just 21 points behind Quartararo.
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