After both Octo Pramac Yakhnich riders qualified in the top ten at the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon, hopes were high for good results for Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding in Sunday’s race. However, after starting ninth and tenth respectively, Petrucci and Redding clashed on the very first corner - with contact between the pair forcing the British rider to go wide and lose the front on the curb.
Redding remounted and rode on in an attempt to salvage points from the back of the race, but would ultimately finish in 19th place. Teammate Petrucci pushed on after the early incident but was hindered by technical problems and then on lap nine he received a ‘ride-through’ penalty from Race Direction for his part in Redding’s crash. The Italian eventually finished the race in 17th place.
Danilo Petrucci (P17): “I am very sorry for what happened with Scott. Since the first corner, I experienced problems with the bike, I could not brake properly, I was always going wide. Unfortunately, I touched Scott. I felt it was not a very heavy touch, but it was heavy enough to push him off the track. I am really mortified. He is very angry and I will apologize. The remainder of the race was really hard.”
Scot Redding (P19): “I started quite well then that contact made me go wide and I could not avoid the crash. I continued until the end, but it was really frustrating because in the last three races I have not had the chance to fight with the others to gain experience with this bike in dry conditions.”