Jorge Martin has been handed a long-lap penalty for the next race he participates in after he was found guilty of “irresponsible riding” for his part in the sprint race clash.
The Pramac Ducati rider attempted to make an aggressive manoeuvre at the opening bend at the start of the Saturday sprint race trying to recover from 12th on the grid, the Spaniard making it four wide on entry to the bend as he attempted to slide underneath Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.
Martin touched Quartararo though and thereafter failed to slow his Ducati down enough for the narrow right-hander, smashing into the side of Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales and beginning a chain of events that eliminated Johann Zarco, Miguel Oliveira as well as title contender Marco Bezzecchi on the spot.
Martin though was able to continue on to eventually finish third having also survived a further clash with VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini at Turn 2 which resulted in the Italian ending his sprint contest in the gravel.
While escaping punishment for his incident with Marini, the FIM stewarding panel found Martin guilty of “irresponsible riding” in the opening corner sequence of events and thus have awarded him a long-lap penalty to be taken in his next race, which should be Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix where he will again take the start from 12th on the grid.
Martin remains series leader Francesco Bagnaia’s cloest rival in the points standings heading into the Austrian GP, the two-time premier class race winner currently 47 points adrift of the factory Ducati rider – who scored victory in the Austrian sprint encounter.
