The Spanish Respol Honda rider Marc Márquez has apologized to the Portuguese fans and to the riders Jorge Martín from Spain and the Portuguese Miguel Oliveira for the incident that occurred on the third lap of the main race of the first round of the MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix.
In one of the corners, Márquez made a mistake in braking, avoiding colliding with Martín, he made contact with Oliveira. As a result, Martín lost many positions (and retired after a few laps), while Márquez and Oliveira retired immediately.
“I would like to apologize to Oliveira, his team and the Portuguese fans because it was Miguel’s race. Today I made a big mistake. I locked the front wheel hard at that point, not with the intention of overtaking Martin. The tires may not have warmed up enough. I released the brakes and the bike started. There was no way to avoid contact. I immediately approached Miguel, visited him at the medical center. Luckily, it’s fine. My right arm and knee hurt, but that’s less important. I am receiving a penalty of two long laps in the Argentine Grand Prix”, published Márquez on social networks.
A Long Lap penalty involves running the race on a special cut in one of the corners, usually resulting in several positions being lost.
The first races of the season were won by reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia on a Ducati. The second stage will take place in Argentina on April 2.
