Marc Marquez overtake “borderline dirty” | “Jorge Martin won’t be happy”

Marc Marquez’s overtake of Jorge Martin  was labelled “borderline dirty” - but on the right side of the limit.

Marquez pinched P2 from Martin on the final lap of the sprint race at the Portuguese MotoGP on Saturday.

After Martin failed to get past race winner Maverick Vinales, he then succumbed to Marquez diving down the inside.

“What fireworks on the last lap! It was borderline dirty,” Michael Laverty said on TNT Sports.

“But he didn’t make contact. He took it wide. He gained a place.

“You know that if there’s a place there, Marc will stick it up the inside.”

Sylvain Guintoli added: “Turn 5, where Marc had one of his crashes [in qualifying].

“He risked it. He saw the gap. There was a very small gap there.

“There was a bit of a bump. He came from far back. He made it stick.

“It was a little bit of a block pass. It was very much on the limit.

“Martin won’t be happy with it.

“But in the end, he doesn’t make contact and he gains the position so you can’t blame him for it.”

Laverty said about Martin: “He’s been weirdly not happy with his sprint set-up. He’s the sprint king.

“He maybe, a little bit, gave up on the last lap.

“He didn’t think he could win. So he settled. Then left the gap for Marc.

“He’ll be beating himself up for giving a place away on the last lap.”

Martin’s reaction to Marquez’s overtake was: “I struggled with the front pressure and couldn’t brake strong.

“He was behind for a lot of laps. He could see how to make the move.”

Marquez’s second-place finish in the second sprint race of the season represents his best moment as a Gresini Ducati rider so far.