Marquez escapes punishment over Rins FP3 block - WATCH
Marc Marquez escapes a long arm of the MotoGP law after stewards rule no further action on this moment with Alex Rins during FP3 in Jerez
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54 years 8 monthsMarc Marquez will not be punished for seemingly getting in the way of rival – and foe – Alex Rins during the closing stages of the Spanish MotoGP FP3 session at Jerez following an investigation.
The six-time MotoGP World Champion was touring ahead of Rins in the closing stages of the session when the Suzuki man caught him up at Turn 8 before moving to get ahead of the Honda at Turn 9
However, Marquez continued to hold onto the racing line, pulling across into the Suzuki’s path despite not being on a fast lap.
Forcing Rins to sit up and gesticulate at the transgression, it meant the Spaniard would be left 12th on the timesheets and unable to progress through to Q2 directly.
A bit of argy-bargy between Marc Márquez and Álex Rins
You wouldn't exactly call these two good friends, and the Suzuki man seems unhappy with the World Champion...
Wait for the practice starts for a bit of afters #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/fB1JMKMfpO— MotoGP on BT Sport (@btsportmotogp) July 18, 2020
As such, the incident was investigated by the stewards but after a long deliberation they elected to take no further action - which could have resulted in a grid penalty or a fine - against the six-time MotoGP World Champion.
The reason given was seemingly because at the time there were yellow flags showing which should have prevented Rins from overtaking or setting a fast enough sector to allow him to qualify anyway.
Regardless, this is the latest incident in a brewing feud between Marquez and Rins, which kicked off at the Czech MotoGP in Brno last year, when the pair tussled in qualifying with some intentionally close overtakes that carried right through to the pitlane entry.
At the time Rins said ‘I think he has no respect for the other riders. He is riding on his way…’