Reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez joked that his younger brother Alex’s stunning save in Motegi last week inspired him, as Marc produced a miracle save himself during free practice in Phillip Island.

Moto2 World Championship leader Alex Marquez somehow stayed on his bike after losing the rear end of his Marc VDS bike in a Mamola-esque save, hanging on with his whole body off his bike last week. Not wanting to be out done, older brother Marc today lost the front end of his RC213V. The bike was 70 degrees over and marshalls all but ready to run and collect the Spaniard out the gravel. However, Marquez did what seemingly only he can do, and pushed himself back up on his knee, saving the crash in a stunning fashion.

Marc joked that his younger brother had inspired him to try and save his near crash on Friday.

“I was leaning at 70 degrees and managed to stay on the bike, not bad,” said the 26-year-old.

“You don’t do that by choice, but I tried to stay on the bike. Just as I was thinking to let it go, I said ‘come on, try and accelerate to avoid crashing’. What can I say, my brother inspired me after his Motegi save, so I thought I’d give it a go.”

Marquez ended the opening day of free practice sixth fastest overall, having his fastest lap of the day somewhat ruined by his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. The pair touched, with part of Lorenzo’s bodywork coming off.

The World Champion said that his team-mate had held him up, but that all things considered he is happy with his progress on the opening day in Australia.

“It was my last flying lap and I was right on the limit of making sure I was inside the top ten,” he said.

“I came across Jorge in the middle of the track, he was going slow. There was contact between us, but nothing happened. We spoke and sorted it out.”

“I’m pleased with this first day, both in the wet and the dry. We were able to find good sensations, particularly in terms of tyres. The dry afternoon session was key, as tomorrow it’s meant to rain whilst Sunday should be dry.”