Mir penalised for Quartararo clash in Portugal MotoGP sprint race

Saturday saw the inaugural MotoGP sprint contest take place at the Algarve International Circuit, which was won at the end of the 12 laps by Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia.

Mir’s sprint race lasted only 13 corners, however, after he was involved in a collision with Yamaha’s Quartararo that led to the Honda rider crashing out.

Quartararo was knocked to the back of the field, but recovered to 10th – albeit still ending up without points, as only the top nine score in the sprints.

The incident was placed under review by race direction, with Mir determined to have been “overly ambitious and causing contact with rider #20, which severely impacted their race”.

Considered “irresponsible riding”, Mir has been handed a long lap penalty to be served in Sunday’s 24-lap grand prix.

Honda did file an appeal to the penalty, but this was denied by the MotoGP Stewards Panel and the punishment was upheld.

Earlier on Saturday during his media debrief, Mir felt neither he nor Quartararo was at fault for the incident and was not expecting to receive a penalty.

“In the images it is clear, Quartararo tries, as in every corner, to overtake someone,” Mir stated.

“He stays there without passing, opens the line a little, I pass him on the inside and when he comes back I crash.

“I don’t think it’s Fabio’s fault because he didn’t see me, but it’s not my fault either because I was riding on the line, I didn’t cross or go against him. I don’t expect a penalty, far from it.”

Mir is the first rider to receive a penalty in the 2023 season.

He was unable to re-join the sprint race after his lap-one crash, while Honda team-mate Marc Marquez converted his surprise pole position to a podium when he took the chequered flag in third.

Marquez will start on pole for Sunday’s Portuguese GP, while Mir will launch from 14th having failed to follow his team-mate out of Q1 in Saturday morning’s qualifying session.