PORTIMAO, Portugal (AP) — Marc Márquez injured his right hand after crashing out of the season-opening Portuguese Moto Grand Prix, which was won by defending champion Francesco Bagnaia on Sunday.
Márquez hurt his hand when he went down hard after he slammed into the back of Miguel Oliveira’s bike. Jorge Martín also wiped out in the crash.
His Honda team said that the six-time MotoGP world champion has a “possible fracture to the first metacarpal of his right hand.” The team said Márquez would undergo more medical exams on his hand.
Race officials penalized Márquez for what they ruled “irresponsible riding.” He will serve a double long lap penalty at the Argentina GP on April 2, if he is fit to race. A long lap penalty requires riding through a designated area of the track designed to add extra time to the lap. Márquez will have to do this twice.
Oliveira had to be carried off on a stretcher. His RNF team later said that he suffered a contusion on his right leg but that a fracture had been ruled out.
Márquez recognized that he had made “a big mistake” and apologized.
The 30-year-old Márquez had earned what he acknowledged was a surprising pole position on Saturday in southern Portugal. That was only his second pole since the 2019 season, when he took 10 poles en route to winning his most recent MotoGP title.
Since then the Spaniard has struggled with injuries to his right arm that have required several surgeries.
Italy’s Bagnaia, who gave Ducati its first title last year since 2007, won the opening event of the season ahead of Maverick Viñales.
___
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
