Honda boss leaps to Marc Marquez defence: “Impossible to avoid” crash
The Repsol Honda rider will miss the Argentina MotoGP after hand surgery caused by the crash in Portimao, and must face a double long lap penalty upon his comeback.
Injured Oliveira will also miss Argentina after both he and Jorge Martin had their races ruined by an error that Marquez has admitted to, and apologised for.
Team manager Puig now says: “His intention was not to overtake. His front wheel locked. After he released the brake? When your front wheel locks, the bike exits like a rocket.
“He was using hard tyres which probably weren’t at the temperature, they needed one more lap. This is probably the reason for the locking.
“He wasn’t trying to overtake. He wasn’t at the limit. He was feeling comfortable. The bike was good.
“But, you know? All the riders were really, really together. It was impossible for him to avoid the crash.
“We are sorry for the incident. We hope Oliveira is good.
“Of course, nobody plans these things. We are sorry.”
Pramac Racing rider Martin, who was contacted by Marquez before the Honda rider then clattered into Oliveira, was not so forgiving.
“It’s not the first time he has destroyed my race,” Martin raged. “Maybe in the future he can manage to avoid me. Or Race Direction can do something.”
Oliveira said about Marquez: “He braked too late, maybe too optimistic about making the pass.”
Aleix Espargaro called for Marquez to face a ban of at least one race for causing the crash.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
