Marc Marquez has defended his crash in free practice three at Aragon today claiming the yellow flag came out too late to see it in time
The Spaniard slid off his Repsol Honda as yellows were being waved to deal with Nicky Hayden’s stricken Marc VDS Honda after the American stand-in had crashed seconds earlier.
Marquez’s bike collected an unsuspecting Pol Espargaro, causing him to fall too and sending his bike charging into Hayden’s, as marshals and Hayden fled the scene.
It sparked criticism from Pol’s older brother Aleix Espargaro, who suggested the championship leader could’ve killed someone.
But Marquez continued to plead his innocence, and challenged the claims that he had form for crashing under yellows.
“This morning I had a big crash, some pain in the shoulder but ok for riding the bike. The crash was strange, some confusion with the yellow flag because it was too late, the yellow flag,” he said.
“When I realised there was a yellow flag I tried to brake and I locked the front and I crash but Nicky and the staff of the circuit were lucky because in the end they could run a little bit and be safe.”
Responding to Espargaro’s claims about this happening before, Marquez said the two incidents were completely different
“Silverstone 2013 was completely my mistake but since that time I always slow down when I see a yellow flag, even if I am on a fastest lap because it is something that I realise is dangerous.
“Most of the time I do the same mistake one time, not more. This time I speak with Mike Webb and with Race Direction and the problem was that in the previous corner, where normally must be the yellow flag, it was not there.
“First of all, I say I didn’t see but they checked all the cameras and it was not there. Then when I arrived on that brake point I was starting to overtake Pol because I didn’t see any yellow flag.
“And then when I realised there was a yellow flag, I tried to brake more to be more safe but the problem is I lost the front so it was unlucky.”