Portimao, Portugal

FIM Stewards Revise Marc Marquez Penalty - Double Long Lap To Be Served Next Time He Races

By David Emmett | Tue, 28/03/2023 - 10:06

The FIM Stewards have been forced to revise the penalty they imposed on Marc Marquez, for hitting Miguel Oliveira on the third lap of the Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday. Initially, the Stewards Notification was worded such that the Double Long Lap Penalty would have to be served at the Grand Prix of Argentina, due to take place at Termas de Rio Hondo this Sunday.

However, Marc Marquez broke his thumb in the crash, fracturing the first metacarpal in his right hand. The Spaniard has since had surgery, but has decided to skip the next round in Argentina.

By a strict reading of the Stewards Notification, Marquez would only have to serve the penalty at Argentina. But after the controversy that produced, and debates over the correct application of penalties, the Stewards have issued a second Notification, clarifying that Marquez will have to serve the penalty during the Sunday race in Argentina, or the next Sunday grand prix he races at.

Miguel Oliveira To Miss Argentina Grand Prix - MotoGP Grid Down To 18

By David Emmett | Mon, 27/03/2023 - 18:48

Miguel Oliveira has been ruled out of the following round of the Argentina Grand Prix. The Portuguese rider sustained a leg injury when he was hit by Marc Marquez on the third lap of the full race at the opening round at Portimão.

The absence of Oliveira brings the number of MotoGP riders out of the second round of the series to four. Pol Espargaro suffered a fractured vertebra and fractured jaw during practice on Friday. Enea Bastianini broke a shoulder blade during the sprint race on Saturday, when Luca Marini lost the front and wiped out the bike of Bastianini. And Marc Marquez suffered a fractured thumb in the crash he caused when he blocked the front and hit Jorge Martin and Miguel Oliveira.

The press release from the RNF Aprilia team appears below:

Injury forces Miguel Oliveira to sit out Argentina Grand Prix

Marc Marquez To Miss Argentina - And Avoid Double Long Lap Penalty

By David Emmett | Mon, 27/03/2023 - 07:07

Marc Marquez is to miss the Argentina round of MotoGP after having surgery on the thumb he fractured in the crash in which he clipped Jorge Martin and hit Miguel Oliveira. Marquez had surgery on Sunday night, after returning to Barcelona.

Missing the race in Argentina will also mean he will not have to serve the Long Lap Penalty imposed by the FIM Stewards for causing the crash. The wording of Long Lap Penalties always specifically names the event in which the penalty is to be served.

That was the case for Fabio Quartararo after the Dutch TT in Assen in 2022, for example, who had to serve a Long Lap Penalty at the following race in Silverstone. Ayumu Sasaki was handed a Long Lap Penalty in Argentina in 2022, after causing a crash at the previous round in Indonesia. All the others I checked also specifically named the grand prix in which the penalty was to be served.

2023 Moto2 Championship Standings After Round 1, Portimão, Portugal

Moto2 standings after the first race at Portimão:

David Emmett Sun, 26/03/2023 - 12:15
1
2023

Portimão MotoGP Saturday Notes: Sprint Races, Pros And Cons

By David Emmett | Sun, 26/03/2023 - 01:16

If Friday was the warm up for the new schedule, Saturday was when it hit home hardest. The familiar pattern – FP3 in the morning, including a mad dash for a spot in Q2 in the final 15 minutes, then FP4 in the early afternoon followed immediately by qualifying – was gone. In its place, a lot of confused journalists (well, at least one, myself), suddenly confused by the fact that it was not yet 11am and MotoGP was already starting Q1.

Moto2 and Moto3 had a more normal pattern – they kicked off a little earlier in the morning, and qualifying was a little later in the afternoon than last year – but after qualifying for the Moto2 class, it was time for the first ever MotoGP sprint race. That turned into a genuine barn burner, in both senses of the phrase. It was exciting. It was something new. And it was really rather scary.

The day held a lot of surprises. Lap records tumbled in all three classes: by just under a tenth of a second in Moto2, half a second in Moto3, and by a whopping 1.5 seconds in MotoGP. Bikes and riders we had written off stunned the fans. Riders we had hyped up disappeared were utterly faceless. There is no substitute for racing to uncover the reality.

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