Marc Márquez was once again involved in an on-track controversy, this time involving Joan Mir, with the Gresini Racing rider unable to avoid contact with the Honda rider and eventually being forced to concede a position.
When asked about the penalty of losing a position, the rider clarified that he had expected it: ‘When I received the penalty to concede a position, I imagined that I was going to receive it, because the action… I didn’t see the images, but if the image comes from the straight it’s one point of view, but if it’s from the last part it’s another point of view. If it’s from the straight before the braking point I was parallel to Joan.’
However, Márquez believes that this was due to a series of factors involving his opponent and how, before the incident, he had not been able to avoid being overtaken: ‘For me what happened was that he lost three positions on the previous lap and tried not to give up and then in a way, at a certain point he released the brake, came in and I had no option. I didn’t have the front brake after the fall and then I said: “Ok, there’s going to be a touch”. We had it, I knew I was going to get a penalty but then I said to myself that I was going to attack and catch the rider in front, I let him pass again and overtook once more. That’s what I did.’
Regarding his racing suit and how it was not the same after the fall, the #93 clarified: ‘The suit? Ah, yes I think I opened it in the fall and the airbag activated and there was a lot of pressure on my shoulders and it must have a safety system that came out, but it was only a little and when we finished the race I felt like I should open it more.’