Oliveira: Marc and I 'cleared everything', ‘case closed’

The application of Marc Marquez’s double long lap penalty may be rumbling on at the MotoGP Court of Appeal but it’s already ‘case closed’ for Miguel Oliveira.

Peter McLaren

13 Apr 2023

Marquez received the penalty for slamming into the side of home hero Oliveira after losing control under braking in the Portimao season-opener.

The eight-time world champion apologised to Oliveira and accepted the double long lap sanction from the FIM Stewards.

However, when it became clear that Marquez (like Oliveira) would miss round two in Argentina due to his injuries, the Stewards tried to change the application of the penalty from Argentina to Marquez’s ‘next race’.

Repsol Honda filed a protest against the 'modification' and the penalty has now been suspended until the MotoGP Court of Appeal reaches its final verdict.

Although Marquez is to miss a second event due to his fractured thumb, Oliveira is making his return at COTA this weekend.

“Marc and I cleared everything on the Sunday,” Oliveira said. “He came to check on me in the medical centre. He explained what happened, and he apologised.

“That is case closed, for me. Since then, I haven’t paid attention [to the appeals]. I hope he comes back soon to race in Jerez and recovers fully.”

Oliveira, who had been holding second at the time of the accident, explained:

“The injury was [to] a couple of tendons in the hip. I couldn’t open my leg over the bike without big pain… so I made a pretty tough decision to take a rest [and miss Argentina].

“It’s a shame the races were back-to-back otherwise I could have raced. But after what happened on the Sunday, I am grateful not to have any major injuries.”

Looking ahead to his COTA debut with RNF Aprilia, the five-time MotoGP race winner conceded he will need to improve on straight-line braking but sees no reason why the RS-GP can’t be competitive.

“Portimao was a track that suited my style, and not the areas where I struggled with the Aprilia, which was straight braking. Here in Texas I think I will struggle a bit more to adapt to these areas where I am not really comfortable yet,” he said.

“But we have the opportunity from tomorrow to start working on this and get more comfortable with the bike. It’s a long season. I just want to restart here and hopefully score points in both races. That’ll be important.

“I need to discover the track with this bike, I don’t see any specific reason why the Aprilias cannot be competitive here.”