La sprint race del Portuguese GP on Saturday, the first in the history of MotoGp, had been busy. And not least was the start of the race, which saw Marc Marquez exaggerate, completely miss a braking, lose control of the Honda and trample theAprilia of the idol of the house, Miguel Oliveira. The Spaniard, booed by the Portimao crowd and challenged by fans on social networks for driving too aggressively (“Valentino was right”, the most tweeted comment), apologized. In the next GP, in Argentina, he will discount due long lap penalty. In other words, he will have to make two wide laps of the track, passing on the outside lane, losing many seconds. But what exactly happened in Portugal?
Marquez Travolge Oliveira
At the start everyone went wild, except for a cautious Bagnaia: Martin, Vinales and above all Oliveira who, starting from the second row, had already taken the lead from the first lap. Obsessed by his own ambition, Marquez at turn 3 of the third lap touched Martin and – having lost control of the Honda – went into the Portuguese at full speed who, in the meantime, had given the lead to Bagnaia, the winner of the race. After leaning towards the rider of the Aprilia satellite lying on the asphalt, probably to apologize and ascertain his condition, the Cannibal – evidently shaken by the accident – staggered back to his motorhome, accompanied by boos from the crowd.
MotoGP Portugal, Bagnaia wins again: on the podium Vinales and Bezzecchi. Madness Marquez, overwhelmed Oliveira
by our correspondent Massimo Calandri
Marquez: “I apologized to Oliveira, I will be penalized”
Marquez immediately realized that he had exaggerated and put another rider’s life at risk. “I made a mistake and received two long lap penalties to serve during the next race. It wasn’t my intention to overwhelm Oliveria. I chose the hard front tire and had a big lock: I wanted to go left, I couldn’t lift the bike, I avoided Martin but not Oliveira. I apologize to Miguel and his team, the important thing is that he’s okay.”
Oliveira: “I don’t believe in Marquez. No fractures”
Oliveira didn’t believe much in the repentance of the Spaniard. Still angry about the danger he ran into and that he immediately bowed out of his home race. “I have some pain in my right leg, but nothing is broken, it’s quite positive news considering the blow I took. I only realized the dynamics of the accident now, after watching the replay. It was strange, Marquez launched himself from too far, he was over the limit, there’s nothing else to say: he avoided Martin, but in this way he hit me. Technical problem with Marquez’s bike? I don’t think so, because when a rider has a problem with the brake, then brake first”.