Marc Marquez reacts to US MotoGP penalty: "Diggia’s angry"

After starting the US MotoGP weekend with a “big mistake” in FP1, Marc Marquez again accepted the blame following a costly Sprint collision with Fabio di Giannantonio.

Both riders were left down and out, while the reigning world champion will also need to serve a long lap penalty in Sunday’s grand prix.

Starting sixth, Marquez joined team-mate Francesco Bagnaia and KTM's Pedro Acosta in passing pole qualifier di Giannantonio when the VR46 rider was forced wide at Turn 1.

But Diggia then launched a surprise re-pass on Marquez at Turn 7.

The pair collided several turns later when Marquez dived for the inside at the end of the back straight but lost control on the inside kerbing. His bike then took down di Giannantonio.

Marc Marquez: “I tried to escape”

“Obviously, today I made a big mistake, because on Turn 12 I didn't calculate well the slipstream of the three bikes ahead,” Marc Marquez told MotoGP.com.

“Then when I started to brake, in one moment I slid the rear, but then I started to lock the front, and I tried to find a way to escape from that situation.

“But going to the outside was impossible. Then I tried to jump in and turn to the outside of the track, but when I was at the apex, there is that small change of banking, I lost the front and unfortunately another rider crashed with me.

“I don't know the penalty [yet], but I need to have some penalty, because the rules are like this. Today I did a mistake, and I destroyed the Sprint race of another rider.

“So I agree with whatever penalty they give to me. We don't have the speed, so I’ll just try to make a good start and try to do our race.”

Marquez denied the move had been an attempt to retaliate for di Giannantonio’s surprise pass.

“I was not thinking to attack, because I knew that Diggia has a good pace to go in front,” he said. “I just had no option. I was not stopping the bike well with the slipstream of three bikes ahead, but the plan was not attacking.”

Marquez and di Giannantonio spent much of last weekend’s Brazilian MotoGP racing together. 

Marquez came out on top with a Sprint victory before fellow GP26 rider di Giannantonio passed Marquez for the final podium place in the grand prix.

Asked if he  had spoken to Diggia, Marquez replied: “Yeah, he's angry. I understand him, and I can just apologise.”

The video clip below shows Marquez explaining what happened and apologising to di Giannantonio, who responds: "Be careful tomorrow."

Diggia: "Stewards are there to do their job"

di Giannantonio didn't show any pubic signs of anger when he spoke to the media, preferring to highlight his earlier pass than dwell on the accident.

“I just want to be focused on myself. I think I've made a great move. It's not easy to overtake there, and especially a strong rider like Marc. I'm proud of my overtake, and that's it,” he said.

Is a single long lap a fair punishment?

“I'm a rider. Stewards are there to do their job, and I fully respect their choice, so it's okay for me. I'm just too focused on me,” he repeated.

Earlier in the day, Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini were given two-place grid penalties for obstructing Marquez in qualifying.