Marquez Ruled Out of Australia, Malaysia
M
arc Marquez has been ruled out of the
next two races at least, after it was
confirmed he suffered a fracture at the base
of the shoulder blade and ligament damage in
his right shoulder. Crucially, medical checks in
Madrid ruled out any connection with previous
injuries on the right arm and shoulder.
"This happens," Marquez said. "It's some
-
thing that sometimes I will do, sometimes
somebody else will do, but it was not on
purpose." Marquez later urged his followers
on Instagram not to direct any online vitriol
Bezzecchi's way.
Rest and immobilization are prioritized over
the coming weeks. "My goal is to be back
before the end of the season, but without
rushing things," Marquez said.
CN
Neil Morrison
VOLUME ISSUE OCTOBER , P29
What is Going on
With Bagnaia?
T
he factory Ducati team's
Sunday in Indonesia was
compounded by Pecco Bagnaia's
miserable outing. The double
MotoGP World champ had a ter-
rible start and was in last place
when he crashed out at the final
corner.
This was deeply puzzling.
Especially as team manager Da-
vide Tardozzi confirmed he was
riding the same bike in Indonesia
as Motegi the previous week.
Bagnaia was so devastated on
Sunday that he cancelled all his
media duties that afternoon. But
on Saturday, he cut a perplexed
and extremely frustrated figure.
"I'm just a passenger of my
bike," he said. "I cannot control
anything. I'm just having a lot of
movement. I think four times, I
arrived to the first corner
and corner 10 without
brakes. Three times, I need
to close the throttle for the
shakes. Difficult to imagine
a race like this, a weekend
like this."
It emerged in Indonesia
that he had used Franco
Morbidelli's year-old GP24
at the Misano test to understand
what was wrong, even if Ducati
management strangely tried to
deny that. Cycle News under
-
stands Ducati had built a bike
for him from spare parts of their
year-old GP24 machine for Indo
-
nesia. And as Bagnaia is such
an extremely sensitive rider, he
noticed differences from what
he had previously ridden, even if
they were minute.
Rumors in the paddock also
point toward his relationship
with General Manager of Ducati
Corse Gigi Dall'Igna is strained in
the extreme.
Neil Morrison
How times can change. One week, Marquez is World champ,
the next he's out with a wrecked shoulder.
Francesco Bagnaia's
about-face from
winner to nowhere
was stunning in
Indonesia.
PHOTO:
GOLD & GOOSE
