Race directors call on Pedrosa and Márquez to explain crash
Championship leader describes cable-cutting contact with teammate’s bike as “bad luck”
The race directors of the MotoGP category have summoned Spanish Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Marc Márquez in order to “technically analyze what happened at turn 12” during Sunday’s Aragon Grand Prix, in northeast Spain.
The incident the directors are referring to saw rookie rider Márquez attempt an overtake around the outside of the veteran Pedrosa. The youngster ran wide and failed to make the move stick, and seconds later Pedrosa was thrown from his bike in a violent highside.
Initially it appeared that Márquez had not caused Pedrosa’s crash, but the riders’ team, Honda, later announced that light contact between the two bikes had broken a traction-control cable on the senior rider’s bike, causing his accident.
Márquez went on to win Sunday’s race, leaving him in a strong position to win the riders’ championship in his very first MotoGP season. Pedrosa, meanwhile, escaped serious injury, but essentially has seen his title hopes fade away.
“It was bad luck,” said Márquez, adding that such a cable breaking was “very unusual.”
Pedrosa, meanwhile, did not seek to hide his irritation at the move by the 20-year-old. “Marc is always on the limit when he has riders in front of him,” the 28-year-old told reporters. “There are riders who respect the rules. You are not out there on your own — the track is not just for you.”
Márquez apologized to Pedrosa on Sunday, an apology that Pedrosa accepted.
