Marc Marquez's Suram Start In MotoGP 2023: Crash, Injured And Received A Penalty

JAKARTA - The 2023 MotoGP was originally going well for Marc Marquez. The Repsol Honda racer successfully climbed the podium at the Portuguese MotoGP Sprint Race, Saturday, March 25.

However, the situation changed 360 degrees during the full race, Sunday, March 26. Marquez actually suffered an unfortunate fate.

Marquez experienced an incident at the start of the race. His actions that were too stubborn when he was about to overtake Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) resulted in disaster.

He actually hit Martin and then hit Miguel Oliveira (RNF Aprilia). As a result, Marquez and Oliveira failed to continue the race.

Not only that, the six-time MotoGP world champion also suffered injuries and was awarded a penalty. The MotoGP FIM steward has awarded Marquez a long-lap double penalty in the second round of matches, namely the Argentine MotoGP.

Steward considers the rider to be "irresponsible" to be included in the violation of Article 1.21.2 in FIM regulations.

First of all I want to say that I am very sorry to Oliveira, his team and the Portuguese fans because it was his race. I did a really big mistake today, of course it was not my intention to have this happen, my intention was not even to overtake Martin at that point,

— Marc Márquez (@marcmarquez93) March 26, 2023

Marquez accepted gracefully regarding the penalty verdict. He also said he regretted that a big accident had to occur in Portugal's opening race.

"First of all I want to say that I am very sorry for Oliveira, his team, and the fans in Portugal because it was a race that happened. I made a very big mistake today, of course it was not my intention to make this happen," said the Spaniard., as reported by the official MotoGP website via Antara, Monday, March 27.

After the crash, the two drivers received medical treatment. Marquez will undergo an examination following a possible metacarpal fracture in his right hand. Meanwhile, Oliveira suffered bruises on his right leg.

"I avoided Martin but made contact with Oliveira. I went straight to Miguel and then at the medical center I went to check him out. Luckily it looks like he's fine and this is the most important thing," Marquez said.

"Meanwhile, I feel pain in my right hand and knees, but this is not so important at the moment. I fully accept and respect a double long-lap penalty during the Argentine GP because I made a mistake," he concluded.