Near the end of the MotoGP Portugal Grand Prix, Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) attacked Francesco Bagnaia’s (Ducati) fifth place, who was struggling. With the maneuver, he managed to gain the position, but the Italian responded and, in the process, the two collided and fell. Bagnaia retired, while Márquez managed to finish in 16th place.
The Spaniard believes that the opponent made more than one mistake and ended up being on the verge of not being a racing incident: ‘When they went to race control I told the stewards – it’s a racing incident on the limit, on the red line. But the stewards have to decide what the limit is. So, in the end, of course, for me it was an error from Pecco, but not just the incident. Because in the end he tried to recover, he was too optimistic and there was contact and it can happen. But it was a mistake when we were fighting for fifth/sixth place – two more points, two less points. And he was having a lot of difficulties especially with the rear tire. So, in the end, three/four laps from the end you know you will lose the position, so it wasn’t necessary to recover in that aggressive way. But he decided that way. The consequence was zero points for Ducati’.
Regarding the conversation he had with Bagnaia, Márquez revealed: ‘We talked and he said he tried to recover, but he didn’t expect the contact. So, I was hit, but fortunately for me this time I wasn’t injured, he wasn’t injured and this is the best way’.
