Marc Marquez’s long-lap penalty he received for his part in his Portuguese Grand Prix clash with Miguel Oliveira has been delayed indefinitely until the Court of Appeal rules on his case.
The Honda racer picked up a long-lap punishment for the Argentinean GP due to taking the RNF Aprilia rider out in the opening stages of the Portuguese encounter, though as a result of sustaining a fractured metacarpal in his hand wasn’t able to take part in the races at the Termas de Rio Hondo and serve his penalty.
Due to the way the FIM stewards worded his penalty, his Honda squad felt the punishment wouldn’t be carried over to subsequent events – though the stewards panel attempted to fix their oversight by updating the wording to make sure Marquez must serve the long-lap in the next start he is able to make.
Honda took issue with this late change though and elected to appeal the modification of the penalty during the week after the Portuguese event with the International Court of Appeal, the Japanese manufacturer stating that it was keen to “defend its rights and legitimate interests, which it considers violated as a result of the resolution adopted.”
The FIM –MotoGP’s regulatory body – revealed on Friday at the Circuit of the Americas though that it will allow Marquez and Honda ‘a stay of execution’ in serving the penalty until it has fully ruled on the case, with a date currently not known on when the verdict of the case will be reached.
“On 26 March 2023, in the MotoGP™ Race of the Grande Premio Tissot de Portugal, the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel imposed a Double Long Lap Penalty on Mr Marc Marquez, Rider #93,” began the FIM’s statement.
“On 28 March 2023, the same FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel notified the Application of the Sanction imposed on the rider to clarify the scope of its applicability.
“Following the appeal from the rider and the HRC – Repsol Honda Team against the Application of the Sanction, the FIM Appeal Stewards decided to refer the case to the MotoGP Court of Appeal on 29 March 2023.
“As a result, the MotoGP Court of Appeal ruled on the request to stay the execution of the Application of the Sanction submitted by the Appellants.”
Marquez will miss this weekend’s Americas GP as his injured hand continues to recover, the six-time premier class world champion replaced at COTA by Honda test rider Stefan Bradl, though he hopes to be back in action for the Spanish GP at Jerez in two weeks time.
