Catalunya Moto2 Race

This is an excellent example of the damage a reputation can do to someone in a heated situation, this was never anything other than a racing incident. Marquez takes a normal racing line for that part of the corner and the gap Pol was throwing him bike into was always going to disappear. I think he saw Marquez moment at the corner entry, anticipated a greater loss of corner speed and commited to a move which in hindsight was pretty hot headed. Marquez was extremely fortunate not to be taken out. I think it's a shame because Espargaro will struggle to gain those points back in the long run

Additionally it is worth noting that Marquez is taking a contant and smooth line, and Pol comes up the inside on a much tighter than usual line, already out of shape. In the last moment before the contact you can see Marquez try to pick his bike up obviously as he realized there was another bike right underneath him but it was too late, there really was nothing he could do. I don't think it is fair to expect a rider to have to do a shoulder check and make sure nobody is trying to get past before they commit to the racing line.

Espagaro's 'racing instinct' to go for the gap reminds me of Rea in race 2 at the Donnington WSBK. Not surprising that it happened, and not surprising that it ended in tears.



In the end, the appeal by Marquez's team being upheld was probably the right result. This idea of Marquez being penalised as a kind of 'second yellow card'... is there actually provision for that in the rulebook, or is race direction making .... up on the fly again? Marquez certainly has been involved in a lot of incidents in his time in Moto2, but this one at Catalunya was the least deserving of a penalty. Butler may be gone, but his ghost lives on.

I aggree that this was a racing incident BUT......



Marquez has been involved in so many incidents now & failry close together that something needs to be done about him before he seriously injures another rider or worse!



I wonder what would be said if that collision would have been caused the death of Espagaro.



Race direction are trying to teach the kid a lesson that his sometimes dangerous riding will not be tolerated & giving him a time penalty rather than a full DSQ is more fair.



Im all for some paint swapping in races its what these guys are paid for but you do it in a manner that doesnt in danger other competitiors. Almost all passes nowadays that are not in a straight line are block passes on the brakes, but most people do not force riders off of the track & cut accross racing lines as Marquez does, seemingly without a care in the world.



Considering there were a lot of people ready to burn Simoncelli at the stake for his Le Mans pass on Pedrosa i find a lot of this to be double standards & all the more confirmation thta unless you have a spanish passport you are just fodder.



How dare stoner & rossi rack up wins & titles over our spanish stars, i know we can make up some ........ to slow them down & help out guys out.

johnnyvvc said:

I aggree that this was a racing incident BUT......



Marquez has been involved in so many incidents now & failry close together that something needs to be done about him before he seriously injures another rider or worse!



I wonder what would be said if that collision would have been caused the death of Espagaro.



Race direction are trying to teach the kid a lesson that his sometimes dangerous riding will not be tolerated & giving him a time penalty rather than a full DSQ is more fair.



Im all for some paint swapping in races its what these guys are paid for but you do it in a manner that doesnt in danger other competitiors. Almost all passes nowadays that are not in a straight line are block passes on the brakes, but most people do not force riders off of the track & cut accross racing lines as Marquez does, seemingly without a care in the world.



Considering there were a lot of people ready to burn Simoncelli at the stake for his Le Mans pass on Pedrosa i find a lot of this to be double standards & all the more confirmation thta unless you have a spanish passport you are just fodder.



How dare stoner & rossi rack up wins & titles over our spanish stars, i know we can make up some ........ to slow them down & help out guys out.

Click to expand...

What a load of rubbish, something has already been done about Marquez. He was given a yellow card as a warning for his move on Luthi at Qatar, which also served as a warning/reassurance (depending on perspective) from race direction that they were monitoring riding/racing standards. The Philip Island practice move last year is well documented, but Marquez was punished for that and has not repeated an offence of this nature so it is only fair to say he learnt his lesson.



Speculating about what would happen if this incident has been much much more serious is totally detached from reality and not even slightly relevant. You mention Simoncelli to strengthen your point but most reasonable people agree that Marco was punished more for his reputation than for the actual incident in question, so for the FIM to step in and avoid a repeat of that mistake is a good thing.



Also, hate on the fact that Spain has more good riders than most other countries but they didn't get that by cheating, they got that by having a well organized and wel funded structure from the grass roots to the top level. If you hadn't noticed, both riders involved in the incident on Sunday are from the Catalunya area, so any claims of favoritism on that basis are not valid.



You don't have to like Marquez, and you might be irritated by some sense of arrogance you get from him (it's fairly standard for world champions at this level) but you have strayed way way too far from objectivity

I see Mark Murderquez's career is taking the same path as Simoncelli.

As long as he is exciting people will defend him.

Hes been in way too many incidents for him to be considered anything but dangerous.



If there is one position I will always adhere to more then any other is that I absoloutely despise dangerous riders.

I dont want to see people get hurt or possibly killed because of someones poor judgement.

If a rider has a pattern of "racing incidents" then clearly they are the culprit.

Well this particular incident looked like a series of unintended events to me. But..Yeah, dude needs to tone it down a bit. Though while in 250s: Pedro, Lorenzo, Barbera, Sic, were all considered a bit sketchy at some point, and they all made it to MotoGP.

mad mick said:

Yeah, nothing he could have done

Click to expand...

To make a riding mistake and expect the rider right behind not to take advantage is foolishly risky. Marquez Is guilty as charged.

Mental Anarchist said:

I didn't see it as a racing incident. He went straight to the apex without looking leaving Pol no where to go. Is there no responsibility to look if another rider is there?



They need to penalise the guy so the other riders don't take it into their own hands. If I was Pol or Luthi I would be punting him off at the first chance without hesitation.

Click to expand...

I completely agree, Marquez must learn to ride with due diligence, you can't expect to gain back the line by force, which you'd already given up by mistake. Not a race incident, he should've been charged and found guilty. He'll pay for these things one day, mark my words, its now getting to be one too many.

cryptmod said:

I completely agree, Marquez must learn to ride with due diligence, you can't expect to gain back the line by force, which you'd already given up by mistake. Not a race incident, he should've been charged and found guilty. He'll pay for these things one day, mark my words, its now getting to be one too many.

Click to expand...

I am pretty confident that Marquez was significantly closer to the normal racing line than Espargaro was

Racing incident. A snap decision by Marquez to shut the door which he was taught to do when he was a wee lad. He knew Espargo was there, had to have heard him. I bet someone from race control has communicated to his team that his riding is being closely scrutinized.