While the FIM stewards announced on Tuesday that Marc Marquez will have to serve the penalty following the Portuguese Grand Prix in his next race, the Honda team has announced its decision to appeal.
Honda and Marc Marquez want to assert their rights. This Sunday, in the second round of the Portuguese Grand Prix, the Spanish driver harpooned the Aprilia of Miguel Oliveira and saw his race end prematurely. A few hours after the race in Portimão, the commissioners of the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) sanctioned the six-time MotoGP world champion with a double “long lap” to be served from the Argentine Grand Prix, organized on weekends. next end at Termas de Rio Hondo.
However, following the announcement of Marc Marquez’s package for the second meeting of the season, the stewards announced on Tuesday the postponement of the sanction affecting the Spanish driver. “Given the injury and non-participation of Marc Márquez in the Argentine Grand Prix, and in order to comply with the intention underlying the decision taken by the FIM MotoGP Stewards panel, the penalty double long lap will be served by the rider in the next MotoGP race in which he is able to participate. A change that is not to the taste of the Honda team.
Repsol Honda Team Statement on FIM penalty modificationhttps://t.co/ZG1Wh5tEVD pic.twitter.com/hJI9Xp1gZ3
— Repsol Honda Team (@HRC_MotoGP) March 29, 2023
Honda does not accept the modification of the sanction
Indeed, through a press release published on Wednesday, the Japanese formation announced its decision to appeal this decision of the commissioners. “The Repsol Honda team considers that the modification of the sanction consisted of a change of criteria on when the sanction should be applied and that this modification was issued by the FIM two days after the initial sanction was made final and definitive, is not confirmed with the rules in force for the MotoGP world championship”, it is affirmed in this press release.
Faced with this, the Honda team affirms that it “intends to use all the remedies offered by the regulations in force to defend its legitimate rights and interests, which it considers to be violated following the last resolution adopted, and in particular has duly lodged an appeal before the FIM Appeal Stewards”. While the stewards considered the modification of the sanction imposed on Marc Marquez as a simple clarification, the leaders of the Honda team do not seem to agree and this case could set a precedent in the future, but also push the FIM to review its rules to prevent such a situation from happening again.