Marc Marquez says penalty "the new era in MotoGP” after Buriram Sprint clash with Pedro Acosta

Marc Marquez said he accepted the penalty that cost him victory in Saturday’s Buriram MotoGP Sprint, insisting riders must adapt to what he called “the new era in MotoGP”.

However, he criticised the timing of the penalty notification, saying he had no chance to respond before the chequered flag.

The reigning world champion inherited the lead when pre-race favourite Marco Bezzecchi crashed on lap two, but then couldn’t shake off the surprise challenge of KTM’s Pedro Acosta. 

Acosta not only followed but repeatedly tried to outbrake Marquez into the final corner. Each time, Marquez covered the move. But a mistake at Turn 5 on the penultimate lap allowed Acosta to finally seize the lead.

Realising the danger, and in a role reversal of their previous battles, Marc Marquez then went on the attack into the final corner.

The Ducati rider’s block pass saw "small contact" with Acosta, who ran wide and over the kerbing, re-joining in second, while Marquez stayed on track.

The FIM Stewards later ordered Marquez to drop one position for the move, and the nine-time world champion allowed Acosta to overtake at the last corner of the race.

“It was a nice fight, but it was under control because I was trying to manage the pace of the race,” Marquez told TNT Sports. 

“When I saw Bezzecchi crash, I tried to slow down the race and tried to control, and I was planning to push the last two laps, but I did the mistake at Turn 5.

“But apart from that, the overtake... It's the new rules. 

"The new rules are like this, so we need to adapt. I received the penalty on the dashboard, so I just dropped the position, and that's it. Nine points, tomorrow we have another race.”

"The message arrived too late" - but did it?

Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi felt the penalty was unfair, while Marquez responded:

“It's a new era in MotoGP. They want it like this, so we need to adapt. The riders have nothing to say. We need to follow the rules.”

However, Marquez was critical of the time taken to inform him of the penalty.

"In my opinion, the message arrived too late, only in the last corner," Marquez told MotoGP.com. 

"If they want to have this system, be more strict, they need to send the penalty already on the exit of Turn 3 [where there is a straight to look at the dashboard]. Don't wait until the last corner."

Quizzed on the hand clap gesture he made in the direction of the Stewards' office at the end of the race, Marquez replied: "As I say, if they want to be more strict, be more precise in sending the penalties. Send them after 20 seconds."

However, the official race notes state that Marquez was informed of the penalty - given for "causing contact" - at 15:21'25, which equates to 27.115s before Acosta crossed the finish line. 

Due to the nature of the track, with a succession of in-field corners from Turns 5-11, Marquez probably didn't see the dashboard message - which the TV feed said was given between Turns 8-9 - until reaching the straight leading into the final turn, giving the impression it arrived later.