Marc Marquez and Joan Mir exchanged tense words after their on-track clash at the Thailand MotoGP. The former Repsol Honda teammates tangled in a heated fight for 15th place at Buriram on Sunday, with Marquez attempting to push forward after an early crash had dropped him back in the field.
Mir was quick to express his frustration, but Marquez was dismissive of his complaints.
“The incident with Marc was unfortunate,” Mir remarked. “He didn’t need to do that… With 10km/h more on the straight, you can overtake without any problem.”
Marquez responded pointedly: “The problem of Joan? He needs to realise that I was faster! If you check the images, I saw them. It looks like I hit him from behind”
“But I was already completely parallel on the braking point, and I was even a little bit in front. He knew there was someone on the inside. But he just decided to release the brakes, to go in, and I wasn’t able to stop the bike.”
Mir, however, was clear about his stance: “For me, the most logical thing when something like this happens is a long lap penalty. Because when he hit me, I touched the long lap! I was in the [long lap loop].”
Race stewards issued Marquez a penalty to drop a position for “irresponsible riding” following his move on Mir at Turn 3 during Lap 23. Initially losing a place post-race, Marquez was eventually reinstated to 11th after it was verified that he had indeed conceded a position in the race’s final stages.
“I agreed with the penalty, because in the end, I took Joan out. We agreed,” Marquez acknowledged.
The rivals—Gresini’s Marquez and Honda’s Mir—are set to face off again at the Malaysian MotoGP this weekend, marking the season’s penultimate round.