Huge Marquez/Zarco crash in second German GP practice

A major accident for Marc Marquez left Johann Zarco as collateral damage and consigned Marquez himself to Q1 at the Sachsenring, as Marco Bezzecchi topped the second MotoGP practice of the German Grand Prix weekend.

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Key moments:

> Terrifying Marquez/Zarco crash

> Marquez to Q1 at track where he’s never lost

> Bezzecchi leads Ducati 1-2

> Nakagami in big Waterfall shunt

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Marquez’s out-of-control Honda RC213V smashed into Zarco’s Ducati, but the Frenchman appeared to walk away without obvious injuries.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

A huge crash involving @marcmarquez93 and @JohannZarco1 brings the session to a halt #GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/DxlhMIJQeH

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 16, 2023

After rain drops had played their part in the opening session, a significant rainfall soon after threatened to deny riders outside the top 10 in practice one a chance to bid for Q2 – but the track ultimately dried fast enough.

The hour-long session was suspended less than 10 minutes in, as Takaaki Nakagami fell off at Turn 11 – officially known as the Ralf Waldmann corner and commonly referred to as ‘Waterfall’ – and his Honda RC213V was absolutely annihilated in arriving to the gravel.

T11 strikes again 💥@takanakagami30's bike looks absolutely destroyed there! Thankfully, the @lcr_team rider is back on his feet #GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/mbVsBZUgL3

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 16, 2023

It meant Nakagami’s session was limited to just three complete laps, as he headed to the medical centre to get his right hand checked out – with no fractures diagnosed.

Adding insult to the injury of effectively missing the session was the fact the crashed bike was a Kalex chassis, which Nakagami had received this weekend with factory rider Joan Mir absent.

The session resumed after a short debris clean-up but past the session’s halfway point there was another scary crash at Turn 11, Raul Fernandez falling off his RNF-run Aprilia and left stranded on the racing surface after his fall – but thankfully able to hop over the barriers soon enough, likewise heading to the medical centre but returning before the end of the session.

This is why the Waterfall is not where a rider wants to crash 💥

How far has @25RaulFernandez gone after that massive tumble?! 😱 Thankfully the Spaniard is back on his feet! #GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/rt0nWDzfRo

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 16, 2023

An unseen fall for team-mate Miguel Oliveira in the same sector followed 10 minutes after Fernandez’s crash, and shortly afterwards Marquez was nearly spat off his Honda RC213V through Waterfall, the six-time champion catching a rear slide before angrily deploying a middle finger gesture in its general direction.

It hadn’t been the first scary moment of his day, but the scariest was saved for last – Marquez starting a late flying lap while tucking in behind brother Alex, immediately losing the front at Turn 1 and having his bike smash into Zarco’s Ducati on the outside of the corner.

That meant a red flag with three minutes left on the clock, setting up a late shoot-out for the 10 Q2 spots – one in which neither Zarco, nor Marquez meaningfully participated, despite managing to head back out. Zarco, however, just got in on the basis of his practice one-topping time.

Bezzecchi maximised that final dash to top the session with a 1m20.271s on his VR46-run Ducati, followed by Pramac’s Jorge Martin and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro – with Ducati’s champion Pecco Bagnaia relegated to fourth from first but still comfortably making Q2.

Also securing Q2 spots were Jack Miller (KTM), Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), Luca Marini (VR46 Ducati) and Enea Bastianini (Ducati).

Finally, both Gresini Ducati riders crashed late on, but while Fabio Di Giannantonio’s outlap fall at Turn 11 consigned him to a Q1 appearance, Alex Marquez going down at Turn 13 on his final flyer ultimately didn’t cost him as he advanced to Q2.

KTM rider Brad Binder was 10th in the session, but the first to miss out on a Q2 spot thanks to Zarco’s past lap.

Also missing out were the likes of Maverick Vinales – who’d crashed his Aprilia at Turn 1 just before the red flag – and Franco Morbidelli, the latter half a second down on team-mate Quartararo and the last of 17 riders within a second of the pace-setter.

Practice 2 Results