Marquez: Track limit penalties need to be assessed

Marc Marquez has called for track limit penalties to be examined by MotoGP rule-makers following an eventful Misano round with the Stewards effectively deciding the winner of the Moto2 race.

While Marquez and Valentino Rossi crossed paths during their final laps during qualifying, inadvertently running off track which saw both riders duly lose their last timed laps in Q2, the questions around track limits reappeared during the Moto2 race at Misano when Augusto Fernandez and Fabio Di Giannantonio battled for victory on the final lap.

Marquez: Track limit penalties need to be assessed

Marc Marquez has called for track limit penalties to be examined by MotoGP rule-makers following an eventful Misano round with the Stewards effectively deciding the winner of the Moto2 race.

While Marquez and Valentino Rossi crossed paths during their final laps during qualifying, inadvertently running off track which saw both riders duly lose their last timed laps in Q2, the questions around track limits reappeared during the Moto2 race at Misano when Augusto Fernandez and Fabio Di Giannantonio battled for victory on the final lap.

Fernandez dropped his tyres off track at Turn 11 which gave him extra momentum into the heavy braking zone of Turn 14 which allowed him to dive up the inside of his Italian rival and use a block pass to take the lead and seal victory.

The incident went to a post-race investigation by the MotoGP Stewards but no further action was taken meaning Fernandez kept the win ahead of Di Giannantonio.

The decision was hit with backlash which Marquez warns must be resolved to avoid similar incidents in the future.

“In the end it is the decision of the Stewards but I think it is one of the main things we will speak about in the Safety Commission because in the end the green part [off track] is something that is out of the limits of the track,” Marquez said.

“The way that Fernandez, but it doesn’t matter which rider, uses the track is not fair. It is not fair because he used a lot on the exit of Turn 6 and you gain a little bit and it is the last two laps when the front guy is pushing.

“If you keep these ‘jokers’ for the end of the race it is not fair to use them at the end of the race. The overtake at Turn 14 started at the fast corner Turn 11 and this is when you are riding in Misano it is very easy to understand.”

During his preparation for the San Marino MotoGP race, Marquez admitted he quizzed his own Repsol Honda team about exceeding track limits at the same spot in a final-lap fight for position.

The reigning MotoGP world champion says he was discouraged by both team manager Alberto Puig and crew chief Santi Hernandez in order to avoid risking a post-race penalty.

“Before my race, during the race in Moto2, I was speaking with Alberto and Santi and I said that I predicted that it will be a fight against Vinales or Quartararo,” he explained. “I said they are very fast at Turn 11 and what happens if on the last lap I use the green and I attack the last braking point and they said it would not be fair and they would penalise you.

“But then somebody did it in Moto2 and they didn’t penalise.

“For me, that means some window is opened and if you open it there are a lot of different things that can happen in the future so we need to penalise this kind of actions because in the last lap it not fair.”

With Fernandez keeping victory at Misano and Moto2 title leader Alex Marquez in third place, Fernandez has cut the championship deficit down to 26 points with six rounds to go.

Marquez is eager to raise the issue during the riders’ Safety Commission meeting in order to gain clarity on what penalties would be applied for repeat incidents.

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