Honda rider Joan Mir was left fuming after being taken out of the Japanese Grand Prix by Ducati rival Alex Marquez on Sunday, in an incident the 2020 world champion labelled “loopy”.
Marquez hit Mir from behind on the primary lap at Motegi, ensuing within the weird sight of the Honda towing the Ducati by way of the gravel lure after Marquez was thrown out of the saddle.
“After I was in the midst of Flip 12, he hit me massively on the again,” he stated. “His bike received caught between my seat and my swing arm. I went straight to the gravel. I imply, it’s unbelievable. What occurred is loopy.
“It’s regular that I’m offended. It’s not the primary time issues like this have occurred with him.
“It’s one thing just like what occurred [between Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia] at Aragon. It’s not precisely the identical, however related. I used to be clearly in entrance and [in that case] Bagnaia was attempting to overhaul. However my bike landed up in the identical place as Pecco’s.”
Marquez accepted duty for the incident in a post-race assertion issued by his Gresini Ducati group.
“I made a mistake at flip 11 that despatched me off line. Whereas attempting to get again to my place I had a coming along with Mir, which led to the crash. Our bikes tangled collectively and I apologised to him for what occurred.”
Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Workforce crash
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photos
Marquez didn’t, nevertheless, agree with the choice to situation him with a protracted lap penalty after the race.
“We’ll should carry out a long-lap penalty in Australia, although I disagree with it: seven days in the past, at Flip 3 one other rider hit me the identical manner and nothing occurred.
“This reveals that guidelines don’t apply the identical approach to all people, however it’s what it’s. We’ll benefit from this lesson.”
Mir, who fell within the Saturday dash, believes he was on his approach to one of many higher outcomes of what has been a particularly robust season for Honda.
“I made a great begin, I used to be as much as 14th,” he stated, having certified seventeenth for Honda’s house race. “Then I overtook a bunch of riders that went vast at Flip 11, so I used to be very near the highest 10 already.
“I used to be in a position to be much more aggressive than in Mandalika. It was among the finest tempo I’ve had all yr, however I couldn’t put all of it collectively. Yesterday was my fault and immediately it was the fault of one other rider.”
