The closing stages of Sunday's European MotoGP at Valencia saw a frightening near-mꦅiss between Alex Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso.

The ❀pair were battling over eighth place when the Ducati rider ove𝕴rtook on the main straight.

But as they hit the brakes for Turn 1, Rep𓆉sol Honda rookie Marquez was caught out by the slipstream and ꦆalmost ran into the back of Dovizioso, before losing the front of his RCV and missing the Italian by millimetres as he fell.

There had been a damp patch of asphalt at the corner throughout the day, but Marquez made clear that was not to bl🍷ame.

"No, with these bikes when you arrive at the end of the main straight at 330 km/h, more or less, and you have someone in front you need to take care of the slipst♌ream," he said🍎.

"We saw many rookie riders in the past like my brother do this. In the firs🀅t year you have somebody in front so it is difficult to stop the bike, and so e🍌asy with the slipstream, to touch the other one from the back.

"I braked at the same point as him, but he was in front of me so it was impossible. There were two opti⛄ons, to both crash or only me.

"It was wet on the inside in that corner, but honestly I was just ✱more deep with more brake and I locked the front.

"It was the secꦬond zero 𒀰in a row and we lost points in Aragon and also here so I am disappointed about that."

Marquez's fall means he starts the final two rounds with a nine-point deficit to KTM's Brad Binder in the Rookie of the Y💜ear battle.

Meanwhile, Marquez's 2018 Moto2 team-mate Joan Mir heads into the second Valencia weekend on 🃏the verge of winning the MotoGP title for Suzuki.

"[Mir] made a really good step [in his second MotoGP season], also Suzuki and we se♔e the champi🌳onship standings. It is clear that the Suzuki bike is so complete," Marquez said.

"He was smart to take that opportunity in this strange year of championship with only 11 races and also with the injury of Marc. Today he did what a champion nee༒ds to𒐪 do which is to put everything on the table and say 'I want to win this championship'.

"For me it's a really good example to keep going and motivated for the future as we can🧔 see eve🐼rything is possible."