We are at the farce: what seemed obvious to anyone with a minimum of brain needed a solemn clarification from the FIM. Marc will have to serve the penalty of two long laps at the first Grand Prix in which he will participate. Come on!
March 29, 2023
How did word get around that Marquez would have gotten away with it is half a mystery and a complete farce. But first things first: the accident caused last Sunday by number 93 at turn 3 of Portimaoat the start of the third lap, was examined by the FIM panel, judged as a case of aggressive driving according to article 1.21.2 and sanctioned with a double long penalty: to be discounted, as logic would demand, in the next race.
But in the press release issued by Dorna, instead of writing “next race” a mysterious little hand had put pen to paper “in the GP of Argentina”. And from there the confusion: someone even wrote that a Dorna “representative” would have said that if he missed the Argentine GP, Marquez would no longer pay the penalty. The word has spread, there are those who want to believe in the incredible and goodbye.
Now, two days later, the FIM decided to step in and explain. The long press release traces all the steps of the affair and at the end, in the paragraph “application of the sanction” clarifies that:
Following the decision of the FIM MotoGP Stewards made on 26/03/2023 at 15:13, the FIM MotoGP Stewards clarifies its decision regarding applicability. Considering the injury and the non-participation of Marc MarquezRider #93, at the Argentine Grand Prix, and in order to respect the intention behind the decision made by the FIM MotoGP Stewards, the double long lap penalty will be served by the rider in the next MotoGP race in which he will be able to participate“.
Were we conspiracy theorists, we could conclude that an all-out clash between two fierce transversal fronts is taking place within Dorna and the FIM: i pro-Marquez pronti a falsificare i report and who knows what else to push the rider towards the world title at all costs. The others (almost certainly bankrolled by the VR46) will watch over compliance with all the rules, they won’t forgive the ant from Cervera (now from Madrid) not even a burp after lunch and have probably already been able to boycott the braking system of the Honda 93.
