Several riders were involved in frightening crashes on a chaotic day of MotoGP practice ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix. It was an opportunity for the riders to feel their way around the TT Circuit Assen before Sunday’s race but things quickly descended into mayhem. Marc Marquez, the championship leader, was among those to fall in a series of separate crashes which left one bike engulfed in flames.

Marquez lost the rear end of his Ducati into the super-fast Turn 14, resulting in him being thrown off and skidding through the gravel. He took a while to get up and appeared to be clutching his left hand as he climbed to his feet. A medic rushed over with a stretcher for Marquez, but he refused the offer and kept walking off the circuit.

Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura was then involved in a horrifying accident which saw his bike go up in flames as it tumbled off the track. He was thrown from the saddle after losing control and while he avoided serious injury, the same could not be said for his motorcycle.

The marshals reacted quickly and the session was red-flagged to allow Ogura’s flaming bike to be cleared away. He and Marquez were not the only riders to get acquainted with the gravel traps, with several of their rivals also suffering crashes.

Alex Marquez, Johann Zarco, Fermin Aldeguer, Franco Morbidelli, Enea Bastianini and Aleix Espargaro were involved in separate incidents within minutes of each other. Towards the end of the day, Lorenzo Savadori had an accident of his own.

Earlier this year, reigning champion Jorge Martin was hospitalised after suffering a huge crash at the Sepang International Circuit. He was immediately tended to by medics and it later emerged that Martin had sustained fractures in his left foot.

The chaos at the Dutch Grand Prix came after Alex Marquez played down the rivalry between himself and his brother Marc. They are currently separated by 40 points heading into the weekend, with Alex hoping to chip away at the gap.

He has faced accusations of racing Marc differently than other riders, allowing his older brother to establish dominance on the track. However, the younger Marquez believes those claims have been made to instigate bad blood between them.

“I think, from outside, some people are trying to create a war or a battle between me and Marc,” said Alex. “It’s what the people want to push, to see some competition. We have that already. We are brothers, so we’ve fought all of our lives.

“You want to beat your brother and you want to be in front and you want to be better in life than your brother, but it will not change. At the moment, he is faster than us. For that reason, many times people say: ‘Alex doesn’t attack him’.