In a press release issued today, Honda announced that it will appeal against the penalty imposed on Marc Marquez after the Portimao accident and that it will eventually use all legal means to defend the interests of the team and the rider.
“In relation to the penalty imposed by the FIM on Marc Marquez for the accident in the Portuguese Grand Prix, the Repsol Honda team considers that the modification of the penalty consisted in a change of criterion on when the aforementioned should be applied. This change was dictated by the FIM two days after the initial sanction was final, and therefore does not comply with current FIM regulations for the MotoGP World Championship.
“For this reason, the Repsol Honda team intends to use all the avenues and means that current legislation offers in defense of its legitimate rights and interests, which it considers vulnerable as a consequence of the latest agreement adopted, and in particular has presented in due form the Appeal to the FIM Appeal Commissioners”, concludes the press release.
Incident with Miguel Oliveira, RNF MotoGP Racing and Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Marc Marquez was in fact sanctioned with a double Long Lap Penalty in the Argentine Grand Prix for having caused the accident involving Miguel Oliveira and Jorge Martin. The Portuguese of the RNF team suffered a contusion to his leg and will miss the GP of Argentina, while the Pramac rider has broken a toe on his right foot.
Marc himself also suffered consequences: he fractured the first metacarpal of his right hand and was operated on immediately. He too will miss the Termas appointment and it was thought that in this way he would have bypassed the penalty. However, the FIM issued a note in which it stated that the Honda rider would have to serve the penalty at the first event he would participate in, correcting the thrust of the first statement, in which he defined the penalty valid for the GP of Argentina.
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