Motorrad
The start of the World Cup on Sunday in Portimao, Portugal, was not a good star for Marc Marquez. The Honda rider involved Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira in a spectacular crash soon after the start, injuring himself again. The six-time MotoGP World Champion apologized afterwards, but the Spaniard was not spared a penalty and criticism from some colleagues.
The veteran started from pole position in Portugal, but quickly fell back a few places. Marquez then touched Ducati’s Jorge Martin before violently knocking second-placed local hero Oliveira out of the race. “I’m very sorry, I made a big mistake. That was not my intention. I didn’t want to overtake him, my front wheel locked up,” said the 30-year-old after the race, which was won by defending champion Francesco Bagnaia on a Ducati.
For the incident, Marquez received a double long lap penalty for next weekend’s Grand Prix in Argentina. However, he will not be able to drive these extended laps at the Grand Prix in Termas de Rio Hondo, as he sustained a displaced fracture of the base of the first metacarpal bone on his right thumb in the accident and, after the operation that has already taken place, at least has to skip the next race. This was announced by his racing team on Monday.
“He ruined my race”
If Marquez surprised with his first pole position since 2019, when he started ten times from first place, his impetuous performance on Sunday caused some clear reactions. “I hope that he will be banned for one race – at least,” Aprilia driver Aleix Espargaro is quoted as saying on the motorsport magazine’s website. Martin was also angry: “He ruined my race – and not for the first time. I hope he can avoid me in the future. He needs to get better. He has to understand that there are other pilots ahead of him.”
In any case, the fact is that Marquez has not been able to compete at the front since the days of his great successes – he won six out of seven possible titles in the premier class of motorcycling from 2013 to 2019. After a fall in the opening race of 2020 in Jerez, he had to have an operation on his upper right arm. The injury then forced two more surgeries, and he only returned to the racing circuit in 2021. He also won three races this year, but was unsuccessful last season. So it’s quite possible that the strong qualifying performance in the opening race tempted him to adopt a driving style that was too risky.