Marco Bezzecchi
MotoGP’s Dr Angel Charte revealed the truth behind the root cause of Marc Marquez’s injury at the Grand Prix of Indonesia on Sunday.
After wrapping up his seventh MotoGP title in Japan just a week prior, Marquez’s 2025 season was flipped on its head after the Spaniard went crashing out of the Grand Prix of Indonesia due to contact with Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi.
Both riders went off into the gravel, with the Ducati rider sent bouncing off the stones before coming to a stop before hitting the barriers.
The result of the injury was a broken collarbone for the seven-time world champion, a heartbreaking setback that comes after emotional celebrations following his first title win since the nightmarish injury-ridden situation he found himself in at the start of the decade.
Marquez has been urged to take his time with rehabilitation, in an attempt to save the 32-year-old from making the same mistakes he previously made with his right shoulder.
READ MORE: Marc Marquez shares his new ‘goal’ for the 2025 MotoGP season after Mandalika crash
MotoGP’s Dr Angel Charte reveals the ‘truth’ about Marc Marquez’s injury in Indonesia
Dani Pedrosa has doubts over Marquez returning in the next couple of races, a sentiment that is echoed by the medical director of MotoGP, Dr Angel Charte.
In an interview with Manu Carreno on El Larguero, Charte ruled out the possibility of Marquez returning to action in Australia or Malaysia, with Portugal being ‘up in the air’ and Valencia looking like the most likely.
Dr Charte also pinpointed the root cause of the incident, which goes hand-in-hand with some of the concerns that MotoGP riders had about the Mandalika International Street Circuit.
“The truth is that the gravel in Indonesia, which is a great circuit, obviously, with all the perfect safety standards, the gravel is harder than usual, right? That was the obvious cause of the accident,” the Spaniard revealed.
Brad Binder was vocal about the gravel in Indonesia well before tyres touched the tarmac at the circuit.
On Thursday morning, the South African voiced his concerns about the gravel to the circuit authorities, who later smoothed it out slightly and ended up saving Marquez from any further injuries in the incident.
READ MORE: Ducati have ‘already’ alerted 69-race rider that he may be required to replace injured Marc Marquez
Dorna must listen to the concerns of MotoGP riders regarding circuit safety
However, smoothing it out simply isn’t good enough. Luca Marini has told the bosses of the premier class to change the gravel at certain tracks on the MotoGP calendar after the Italian theorised that it was the cause of his rival’s broken collarbone earlier in the day.
The sentiment was shared by a number of riders on the grid, who also slammed the gravel traps at the Indonesian circuit.
In his pre-podium interview, via Motorsport.com, Alex Marquez said, “Have you seen how bad the gravel is? It’s a mess. It’s always the same: until something happens, nothing happens. There are some very large stones; it’s impossible for nothing to happen to you.”
The younger brother of the stricken Ducati rider continued with his fury in his post-race comments to DAZN with, “There was a step on the ground. When you fall at this speed, what a rider wants is to brake, to put his arms out.”
He added, “The 22 Grands Prix involve 44 starts, between sprints and long races, and it’s not a coincidence that there are so many injuries. People get hurt more. We want to put on a show, but we have to be more protected.”
With the Mandalika circuit being a relatively new addition to the calendar, it’s unlikely that the same grade of gravel is used across the circuits in the remaining four rounds of the season.
However, it is crucial that Dorna take the concerns of riders into account more often when it comes to the safety of the circuits they race on. There is no doubt that the sport will suffer if more incidents like this continue to happen.
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