Marc Marquez has been handed penalty for his collision in MotoGP Portuguese GP as he, Miguel Oliveira and Jorge Martin react.

Following the crash during Sunday’s race at the Grande Prémio TISSOT de Portugal, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has been awarded a Double Long Lap Penalty which he will take at the next round of the MotoGP calendar, provided he is fit to ride.

The crash saw the eight-time World Champion massively out-brake himself in the early stages of the race, pushing Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) wide and crashing into Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team). The incident ended with Martin losing several positions, whilst Marquez and Oliveira both crashed out of the race.

The FIM MotoGP stewards have imposed a Double Long Lap Penalty for the Gran Premio Michelin de la República Argentina, due to what has been deemed as irresponsible riding, making the incident an infringement of Article 1.21.2 of the FIM World Championship Grand Prix Regulations.

Following the incident, both riders received medical attention. The Repsol Honda rider will receive an examination for the possibility of a fracture to the first metacarpal bone in his right hand. Whilst Miguel Oliveira had suffered from a contusion in his right leg.

Marquez: “First of all I want to say that I am very sorry to Oliveira, his team and the Portuguese fans because it was his race. I did a really big mistake today, of course it was not my intention to have this happen, my intention was not even to overtake Martin at that point, but I had a massive lock with the front. Maybe the hard front was not fully up to temperature, I released the brakes and the bike went inside.

“I avoided Martin but made contact with Oliveira. I straight away went over to Miguel and then in the medical centre I went to check on him – fortunately it looks like he is OK and this is the most important thing. On my side I have some pain in my right hand and with my knee but this is not so important at the minute. I fully accept and respect the penalty of the double long-lap during the Argentina GP because I did a mistake.”

Oliveira: “Today was a shame, obviously to end my home Grand Prix in just two laps was not something I expected. However, we can still be proud on the progress we made throughout this week. We had a difficult day on Friday and then to do Qualifying like how we did it yesterday and to almost have the podium in hand on the last lap in the Sprint Race was amazing. We had a good start today, to lead and then coming second, I think there was a clear opportunity for us to score a podium. I’m still very bruised on the right side of my hip from the crash, hopefully I can do everything I can do be fully fit for Argentina next weekend.”

Martin: “It’s not the first time he destroyed my race. I don’t know, maybe in the future he can manage to avoid me – or at least race direction makes something. Because I never destroyed a race for him, or even injured him. And it’s already the second time, and I hope he improves. I saw him already first laps too enthusiastic, because he lost the front, I was in first position, and I had to pick up the bike to not crash and then we had a small impact but I was in front so I couldn’t see. And then the second time, I mean, I just received a big impact, I tried to avoid the crash… Also too enthusiastic, for a second time in a row.

“I don’t know. When you have riders in front, you need to understand that there are riders in front and manage a bit the braking point. For sure you cannot brake as when you are alone. It’s what we do, all the riders. And I think he needs to improve this. Honestly speaking, I’m not very worried about Argentina. Today the most important is that Miguel is OK. And for me that is the most important because I did a big mistake in the first part of the corner. And then this created everything. I braked and I had a massive lock with the front tyre. That massive lock created that I released the brakes. My intention was to go on the left side, but the bike stayed with that lean angle and I couldn’t avoid to go on the right side. I was able to avoid Martin but I wasn’t able to avoid Miguel.

Here’s the crash: https://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2023/03/26/m-marquez-wipes-out-oliveira-in-massive-crash/450783

UPDATE: Amid confusion regarding the penalty, MotoGP has clarified that Marquez will serve the penalty in whichever event he takes part in.

Here’s how MotoGP Portuguese GP panned out

[Note: The story is as per press release]

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