Marc Marquez receives one minute penalty following Espargaro incident

Published on 03 Jun 2012 by Toni M.

marc marquez catalunya 2012

Following the controversial racing incident in Moto2 race in Catalunya, between Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro, the Race Direction after a couple of hours of reviewing the incident and listening to the two riders has decided to strip the CatalunyaCaixa rider of his third place podium and give him a one minute penalty that puts him in 23rd in his home race and drops him to fourth in the championship standings.

It looks like after all his aggressive riding, the Race Direction has decided to sum up every single incident that Marquez had been involved in so far and punish him, naturally his team is appealing the decision.

Updated with MotoGP riders reactions that absolve Marquez:

Casey Stoner: “Can’t believe they gave Marc Marquez a 1min penalty!! Another reason why this championship needs some sorting out! I’ve seen much worse.”

Valentino Rossi: “I don’t agree. The move in Qatar was dirty and he deserved a formal warning because he didn’t give any space to Luthi forcing him off track. Today it wasn’t his fault. Espargaró tried to squeeze into a space that wasn’t there, and then Marquez could not see him. As a rider, you can’t worry about who you have behind you, especially with 2 laps to go.”

Jorge Lorenzo: “I don’t think he did it on purpose, he simply didn’t see him. In Qatar he made a harder move, but here it was Espargaro who took the risk and fell. Sometimes races are like that.”

Andrea Dovizioso: “I think the blame should be divided 50/50. The helmets that we use have very limited side vision, Marquez was ahead and couldn’t see Espargaró, who in turn didn’t understand where his rival was going .”

What do you guys think, did Marquez deserve the penalty?

New Moto2 race results after the jump:

01- Andrea Iannone – Speed Master Team – Speed Up Moto2 – 23 laps in 41’16.852
02- Thomas Luthi – Interwetten Paddock – Suter MMXII – + 0.083
03- Tito Rabat – Pons 40 HP Tuenti – KALEX Moto2 – + 12.516
04- Simone Corsi – CAME Iodaracing Project – FTR Moto M212 – + 14.226
05- Takaaki Nakagami – Italtrans Racing Team – KALEX Moto2 – + 15.072
06- Dominique Aegerter – Technomag CIP – Suter MMXII – + 16.255
07- Randy Krummenacher – GP Team Switzerland – KALEX Moto2 – + 16.354
08- Mika Kallio – Marc VDS Racing Team – KALEX Moto2 – + 16.606
09- Scott Redding – Marc VDS Racing Team – KALEX Moto2 – + 16.793
10- Johann Zarco – JiR Moto2 – MotoBI – + 17.298
11- Bradley Smith – Tech 3 Racing – Tech 3 Mistral 610 – + 22.242
12- Claudio Corti – Italtrans Racing Team – KALEX Moto2 – + 23.763
13- Alex De Angelis – NGM Mobile Forward Racing – Suter MMXII – + 24.069
14- Nico Terol – MAPFRE Aspar Team – Suter MMXII – + 27.039
15- Jordi Torres – Tech 3 Racing – Tech 3 Mistral 610 – + 32.158
16- Max Neukirchner – Kiefer Racing – KALEX Moto2 – + 34.389
17- Ratthapark Wilairot – Thai Honda PTT Gresini Moto2 – Suter MMXII – + 35.387
18- Ricky Cardus – Arguinano Racing Team – AJR Moto2 – + 35.501
19- Angel Rodriguez – Desguaces La Torre SAG – Bimota HB4 Moto2 – + 35.623
20- Yuki Takahashi – NGM Mobile Forward Racing – Suter MMXII – + 35.803
21- Axel Pons – Pons 40 HP Tuenti – KALEX Moto2 – + 36.903
22- Anthony West – QMMF Racing Team – Moriwaki MD600 – + 52.636
23- Marc Marquez – Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol – Suter MMXII – + 1’01.137
24- Alexander Lundh – Cresto Guide MZ Racing – FTR Moto M211 – + 1’16.309
25- Marco Colandrea – SAG Team – FTR Moto M211 – + 1’18.573
26- Elena Rosell – QMMF Racing Team – Moriwaki MD600 – + 1’35.551