Alex Marquez penalised for Binder, Zarco incident

The FIM Stewards handed Marquez the sanction for 'irresponsible riding causing danger to other competitors' at Turn 6 on the opening lap, when his manourvere 'disturbed' Brad Binder and Johann Zarco.

An appeal by the Gresini team was rejected on the grounds that Marquez had indeed been ‘overly ambitious’, that the resulting 'chain reaction' disturbed other riders, and that the penalty was appropriate since Marquez would have received an equal in-race punishment had he not crashed out on lap 6.

Speaking before the news of the penalty, Marquez said of the incident: “I was behind Johann and after turn 5 I was not expecting him to be braking really soon. Then I was trying to avoid him on the inside."

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After Marquez dived inside Zarco, the Frenchman went slightly wide. Marquez then clipped the back of Binder, sending the KTM rider to the edge of the asphalt before he turned back onto the track.

“They closed the gas so early and then I touched just a little bit Brad. Brad's line is really inside there and he was trying to defend and I just touched him a little bit, but I saw that he lost some positions," Marquez said.

“So I'm sorry for that because it was not my intention to go against Brad. I just touched him just a little bit, but you know, for him it was a big one because he went really, really off [wide].”

While Marquez finished the opening lap in eighth and Zarco in tenth, Binder lost out most in the incident.

"When you drop back to 20th place on the first lap, it's difficult," said the South African.

Marquez later crashed out when he hit the back of Luca Marini, who was recovering from a save on the exit of Turn 4.

Zarco finished his home race in third, with Binder sixth for KTM after a late long-lap penalty for cutting a chicane.

The next MotoGP round will be held at Mugello, a home event for Gresini and Ducati, next month.

The FIM Stewards are yet to announce any penalties for the Maverick Vinales-Francesco Bagnaia clash.