Alex Marquez accuses MotoGP of ‘not caring about the riders’ amid fine fallout

Alex Marquez says MotoGP’s proposal to issue fines for missing PR events at race weekends feels like “they don’t care about the riders’ perspective”.

MotoGP is enveloped in controversy over a new proposal issued to riders at the Indonesian Grand Prix that stated they would be fined €5000 for missing fan engagement events, beginning with last Sunday’s ‘Hero Walk’.

The move comes as MotoGP looks to clamp down on what it feels has become a trend of riders ignoring these kinds of engagements.

The announcement also comes in the wake of Marc Marquez sending a stunt double to take part in a kart race in Japan so he could rest before the grand prix.

Stand-off brewing between riders and MotoGP

The news of fines, with sporting penalties also touted, has gone down very poorly among the riders.

Gresini’s Alex Marquez believes the riders are being pushed “to the limit” during race weekends - something that will only get worse in 2027 with the new qualifying format.

“It's a pretty complicated situation,” he told reporters, including Crash, in Indonesia.

“Today, if you skip the 'Hero Walk' or aren't there for ten minutes, it's a €5000 fine. It's tough.

“I think they're pushing the riders to the limit.

“We have more and more races and events; we're at the limit of our energy.

“Now we're in the race season, with very hot, very demanding conditions.

“It's a bit like they don't care about the rider's perspective.

“They should understand the rider's point of view a bit more. [In the race] we did 45 minutes at [a heart rate of] 190 beats per minute, and they don't understand that.”

Yamaha’s Alex Rins added that races like Indonesia in punishing heat conditions leave riders “completely wrecked”.

After the 13-lap sprint, Marc Marquez said he felt dizzy having to go through the post-race ceremonies.

Will this finally prompt a riders’ union?

Alex Marquez’s point about not being listened to is pertinent, but also speaks to a wider issue about the lack of a union among the grid.

Pecco Bagnaia noted that only four riders turned up to the Safety Commission meeting where they were asked about the new race weekend format.

Most riders who don’t go to the Safety Commission say the same thing: that they don’t feel like anything is achieved there, that their concerns aren’t listened to, and that getting 22 riders to agree on something is almost impossible.

Pedro Acosta commented at the weekend that the moment for a union should have already happened but likely never will because there are too many people “with their own interests” at heart.

But it’s rare for there to be so much unanimous discontent among the riders over penalties for missing PR events, while most of the voices were negative about the 2027 format.

This feels like a tipping point is being reached where riders will form some kind of union to ensure their interests are listened to.