Sprint chaos at Motegi, Alex Marquez penalized for the incident in the opening corners

Alex Marquez penalized for the crash in the opening corners of the just-finished MotoGP Sprint at Motegi.

It couldn’t have been otherwise; the mistake was obvious. Alex Marquez has been sanctioned for causing the crash that led to the retirement of himself, Fabio Di Giannantonio, and Pedro Acosta. A smash in the very first corners of the Motegi MotoGP Sprint that immediately took out three potential protagonists—Acosta in particular, surely buoyed by his first win in Austria. Conversations postponed to tomorrow, however: the three riders came away with zero points and the Gresini rider will clearly also have the penalty.

"Alex Marquez will serve a double Long Lap Penalty tomorrow for the incident with Acosta and Di Giannantonio." This was the official communication from the Stewards; shortly after, via press release, came the rider’s first comment: "Unfortunately I made a mistake at Turn 3 that ruined the race for two other riders, I’m sorry. I accept the penalty and tomorrow we’ll still try to have a decent race." It will be a long race, full of unknowns, perhaps in his case already a bit compromised.

Especially given what most worries the teams: the new asphalt and the tire degradation observed in the previous sessions and confirmed with concerning cases even in the MotoGP Sprint (below you can see how Bagnaia’s tire was). It’s not the first case of damaged tires with pieces even flying off the rubber; there have been striking cases in the past too... But that’s a topic we’ll revisit tomorrow. In the meantime, the Sprint went to Marc Marquez ahead of Diogo Moreira and Jorge Martin (demoted for track limits), with Bastianini losing the podium for an (alas, obvious) green-zone violation with both wheels on the final lap. Below you’ll find the updated standings.

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