Stewards confirm verdict on Alex Marquez-Joan Mir clash at Japanese MotoGP
Alex Marquez clattered Joan Mir at Motegi
Alex Marquez has been handed a Long Lap penalty for the upcoming Australian MotoGP after colliding with Joan Mir on the opening lap of Sunday’s Motegi race.
Marquez began the grand prix embroiled in a battle with Fabio di Giannantonio, Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Quartararo over eleventh place.
Some off-camera mayhem at the end of the back straight saw Marquez drop to 15th, directly behind Mir, who gained ground from 17th on the grid.
But after accelerating through the tunnel, Marquez hit the back of Mir at the fast turn 12 left-hander.
Marquez fell, leaving his Gresini Ducati hanging from the back of Mir’s Repsol Honda.
Mir speared off track and was forced to retire due to the damage, tapping his helmet in a ‘think’ gesture to Marquez as he trudged away.
The 2020 world champion, who also retired from Saturday’s Sprint, has previously expressed frustration at the aggression shown by some riders when fighting for minor points positions.
After announcing a post-race review of the incident, the FIM Stewards declared that Marquez was “riding in an irresponsible manner causing a crash, involving rider #36” at Turn 12 and imposed a Long Lap penalty for his next grand prix race.
An accompanying ‘penalty explanation’ read:
“Following the Penalty Protocols issued to teams, this action was deemed to be an incident of Type MGP-CC4:
"Causing a crash. Contact with another rider resulting in another rider crashing.
"As a first offence for the season, the appropriate penalty in this case is a Long Lap Penalty.”
The Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island takes place on October 18-20.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
