Heavy MotoGP crash: broken hand and Marquez punishment

During the MotoGP season opener in Portugal, Marc Marquez caused a heavy crash. He took Miguel Oliveira and Jorge Martin with him in his fall, with Marquez breaking his hand.

The race in Portugal was held at the Portimao circuit and started spectacularly. On lap three of the race, the Spaniard made an error of judgement, braking too late and causing a heavy crash. The Portuguese crowd showed what they thought of the Spaniard's action with a huge whistling concert. The fight had been going on the lap before already, where there was nearly a crash aswell.

Oliveira was launched into the air and fell to the ground and layed on the ground for a long time. Fortunately for the Portuguese, he only sustained a bruised upper right leg. Marquez came out of the crash worse, he has a fracture in a metacarpal for what is known now.

The Spaniard knew he was at fault and immediately apologised towards his team and Oliveira. Marquez's penalty for the incident is two long lap penalties. As a result, he will have to take the longer lap twice at the next race in Argentina, which will cost him a lot of time.