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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1499289
if Maverick had closed his line less, and I had left more room to enter, but in any case, these are things that can happen," Bagnaia said. "We met with the stewards, which was a positive meeting that will allow us to improve in the future. Today we were fast, and at that moment, I was waiting for the right mo - ment to attack and then push, but unfortunately, it went like that, and I am sorry." Two laps later, another ac- cident happened when Luca Marini pulled off a miraculous save at the Dunlop Bridge, only to get clobbered by Alex Mar- quez coming in hot from behind. Marquez was lucky to get away without getting run over, as he was dumped right on the racing line in front of the pack, but the Spaniard scampered to the left of the track and out of the race. Yet more crashes were to be - fall COTA winner Alex Rins (LCR Honda) and his former team- mate and 2020 World Champion Joan Mir (Repsol Honda), the latter of which we're sadly get - ting used to seeing in 2023. stone. He would crash out for the second day in a row, this time at the Dunlop Bridge, with three laps to go. Before that, however, it was carnage. Vinales was coming on strong in the early stages and had worked himself up to fourth after disposing of Marini, and he swooped on Bagnaia at the 'S' du Garage Blue chicane. Bagnaia wasn't prepared to give up the position and attempted a cut- back maneuver and the Aprilia and Ducati clattered into each other once, then a second time as they both tumbled through the gravel trap and out of the race. An irate Vinales then charged up to Bagnaia and gave the world champion a shove, and with the two standing toe-to-toe in the grave trap, for a moment it looked like handbags at dawn between the Spaniard and the Italian. It was deemed a racing incident by the officials and no further action was taken. "It was an unfortunate cir - cumstance, a race incident that perhaps we could have avoided VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P85 One final crash would come with two laps to go as Marc Marquez pushed his recalcitrant Honda RC213V just that bit too far and crashed out at the same corner that claimed Miller in the Sprint race, putting an end to what was, at that point, a solid return to racing action for the Spaniard. "I fell at turn seven, but it started at turn six when I had a lot of shaking and I didn't arrive with the perfect line," Marquez said. successful manufacturer with 817 victories, while Giacomo Agostini is the most successful rider, both in terms of race wins (122) and world championships (15). Unsur- prisingly, Valentino Rossi is the rider with most GP starts (432), as he took to the grid in over 43 percent of all Grand Prix events. MARQUEZ & KALEX Marc Marquez made his first competitive appearance since the opening race of the season after returning from an injury to his right hand. Le Mans offered him the chance to test the Kalex chassis for the first time, after the German manufacturer produced a frame at the behest of HRC in the months after the Sepang test. Stefan Bradl and Joan Mir had tried out the new frame at the post-race test at Jerez. "It's true that we tried both chassis," Marquez said. "It was also not easy, it was a busy day, because every time I went out on the track, it was a different bike, different chassis, different riding style, different way to approach the corner. So, this makes the life more difficult, but it was the time to do it, and it was positive." Briefly... 2023 French Grand Prix Sprint Race Highlights