MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez has been hit with a six-place grid penalty for impeding Andrea Iannone in Sepang.
News came through shortly after the days’ proceedings that Marquez had been given a six-place grid penalty for impeding Iannone on the Suzuki mans fastest lap of the session.
Unaware of the impending penalty, Marquez said that he simply didn’t see Iannone and didn’t mean to slow the Italian down.
“I was coming out from the box, I left Dovizioso over take and I was then in the hairpin and I looked behind and could see only one Suzuki that was Rins,” explained Marquez.
“Because maybe Iannone was on the other side and I didn’t see him. Then in the hairpin I was very tight on the inside but he overtook me from the inside.
“If I get penalised I don’t know, race direction will decide. I tried to avoid it is what I can say, I didn’t see. It doesn’t matter, I did the fastest lap which is the most important for me.”
The revised grid will see Johann Zarco start from pole position with Valentino Rossi and Iannone on the front row. The second row will now be Andrea Dovizioso and the Pramac duo of Jack Miller and Danilo Petrucci, with Marquez now in seventh place.
