MotoGP leader Marc Marquez docked point for Aragon collision

Marc Marquez: Third penalty point of the season

MotoGP Championship leader Marc Marquez has been docked a penalty point for careless riding in last week’s race at Aragon.

Marquez was deemed at fault following a mid-race collision with fellow Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, who crashed out of the race shortly afterwards.

The 20-year-old rookie blamed “bad luck” for the incident, but Pedrosa insisted Marquez had caused the collision which damaged his traction control sensor, leading to his crash.

MotoGP officials have now handed Marquez his third penalty point of the season, and one more transgression will relegate him to the back of the starting grid for the next race.

The incident at Aragon has also led to Honda losing all of their 25 points, cutting their lead over Yamaha in the constructors’ championship to just one point.

Sanction

MotoGP issued the sanctions after a Race Direction hearing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, with Marquez, Pedrosa and Honda team officials all present.

The hearing found that “a touch from Marquez’s left arm broke the rear wheel speed sensor cable on the back of Pedrosa’s bike, resulting in a loss of his traction control for the latter which saw him crashing out of the race”.

Marquez was hit with a two-point penalty at Silverstone earlier this season when he was deemed to have ignored yellow flags during the warm-up.

He now leads the title race by 39 points from defending champion Jorge Lorenzo heading into this weekend’s Malaysian MotoGP – the 15th of 18 meetings this season.

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