World Champs have their say on hard racing and MotoGP penalties

World Champs have their say on random nature of MotoGP penalties

Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez had a thrilling battle at the Le Mans Sprint Race overnight. There was little quarter given in what was good, clean and close racing.

At one point during the contest, in the heat of the moment, Bagnaia did raise his hand in protest at a move by Marquez. Afterwards however the World Champion said this is how he wants to race, and that he was more incensed at the completely random application of penalties.

Pecco Bagnaia – P3

“The battle was fun, I was enjoying it, it was quite aggressive but it’s the way I like to race. So I don’t understand the way they judged it because two weeks ago I got a penalty. And I’m NOT asking for a penalty for Marc, I’m just asking why I got one, it was normal like mine was. I think it’s correct to follow this line! It was aggressive but I like it. Battles have to be aggressive, for me. I’d like to continue like this. When there’s contact you’re upset in that moment, with the adrenaline and tension. But for me the battles like this is normal and we have to keep it like this.”

Marc Marquez also reflected on the race and the somewhat random application of penalties. It should be noted that Marquez had also earlier in the weekend stated that he agreed with his penalty for his clash at Portimao after he locked the front and skittled Miguel Oliveira. Marquez had also noted that these penalties can’t be changed after the fact, and that to serve the penalty it would have been as simple as him rolling out at the next race to start, do a long lap penalty and then pull in to retire and continue with this rehabilitation.

Marc Marquez – P5

“For me we must stop speaking about these small things and overtakes. I spoke with Pecco and he wasn’t angry at me. More upset because he was penalised in Jerez and I wasn’t here. They’re different actions but… guys, this is MotoGP. It’s my 11th year in the category, I think. If you want to overtake it’ll always be a close overtake and I think it’s what the fans enjoy.

“Yesterday the Stewards were in the Safety Commission and I gave my opinion. My opinion on this year is that everything that’s happened in the races has been a racing incident – the only one that should be penalised was my one in Portimao, because it was a big mistake! That one must be penalised. The rest were racing incidents and what happened today at Turn 3 was completely normal.”

Luca Marini engaged in battle with Marquez late in the race and also had something to say about the random application of penalties in recent itme.

Luca Marini – P4

“I’m quite satisfied, first of all with the result and then with my race in general. I had a good pace, we rode fast and I finished fast. I’m just a little angry because at the start there were very aggressive overtakings and then there were no penalties after the race like in other GPs. When braking at turn 8, I found myself off the track and I lost a lot of positions. It could have been a different race. For tomorrow it will be crucial to get a good start, then manage the tyre in the best possible way and not be dirty in riding in order to reach the finishing line competitively.”

It seems as though during the meeting earlier in the weekend, where riders got together with the stewards, there were some riders that wanted every instance where one rider touches another to be punished.

Aleix Espargaro has been one of the most vocal in support of more penalties for riders.

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While the likes of Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia are speaking out in favour of close and hard racing, it is certainly noteworthy that it took Aleix Espargaro 200 MotoGP starts to win a race. While in just over half that number of starts Marc Marquez had won six MotoGP World Championships and took 100 podium finishes. And that Pecco in one-third the number of starts had a dozen wins and a MotoGP World Championship under his belt. Read into that what you will…

The Sprint Race was dominated by Jorge Martin who took a clear victory over Brad Binder.

MotoGP Sprint Race Results

MotoGP Championship Points

Moto2 Qualifying