MotoGP championship leader Marco Bezzecchi found himself at the centre of a major controversy following his actions at the Czechia Grand Prix last weekend.
Bezzecchi crashed out of the sprint race at the Masaryk Circuit and then stormed toward a marshal who was attempting to safely clear his motorcycle from the gravel.
The Italian rider pushed and slapped the face of the marshal, an act that was captured on camera and quickly spread across the internet.
Bezzecchi was understood to be angered by the fact that his bike was still revving while marshals attempted to move it to safety, though his behaviour was widely condemned.
His Aprilia Racing team initially appealed the ban that was handed to Bezzecchi, but the appeal was unsuccessful and he was excluded from the remainder of the weekend’s action.
Bezzecchi later appeared at the circuit and was seen embracing the marshal and handing him a personal gift as a gesture of apology.
He also took to Instagram to issue a public apology following the incident, which drew widespread attention from fans and officials around the world.
Now the marshal at the centre of the incident, a volunteer named Ladja, has spoken publicly about the ordeal for the first time in an interview with TNT Sports.
Ladja explained: “I’m ok. At that moment I was a bit shocked, and at night when the wave of the video and all of the seeing it, I mean the whole world, I was really down because it’s something new for me.”
He went on to describe what actually happened with the motorcycle, saying: “I pressed the clutch and tried to pick it up because it was still on and the bike started rolling so I wanted to put it back down and it revved up.”
Ladja made clear the incident was entirely unintentional, stating: “He probably thought that I did it on purpose, it was a pure accident and then everyone saw what happened.”
Despite the shocking nature of the assault, Ladja expressed understanding for Bezzecchi’s emotional state in the heat of the moment, noting the pressure of crashing out of a race.
When asked about the personal apology, Ladja responded warmly: “Yes I have seen it, and he just came and apologised to me in person.”
He concluded with a gracious message toward the rider, saying: “So, I mean, I understand him and I wish him the best of luck. It really matters to me that he apologised.”