Marquez Ruled Out of Sepang
Henny Ray Abrams | October 22, 2011
Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol-Suter rider Marc Marquez will not compete in the Malaysian Grand Prix after failing to pass the medical examination on Sunday morning, opening the door for rival Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing-Kalex) to win the second ever Moto2 World Championship.Marquez was the innocent victim of a corner worker who failed to display the proper flag notifying riders of a wet track in the opening Moto2 practice on Friday morning. Marquez crashed heavily, suffering damage to his left shoulder and neck. Marquez didn’t ride again until Saturday afternoon qualifying, when he completed only one lap at speed to qualify for Sunday’s penultimate round of the Moto2 World Championship. Race organizers were fined 15,000 euros for the mistake.
Sunday’s race will begin with Bradl holding a three point lead over Marquez, 254 to 251. For Bradl to secure the title he has to win the race. That would give him an insurmountable 28 point lead heading to the Valencia season finale in two weeks time.
Henny Ray Abrams | Contributing Editor
Abrams is the longest-serving contributor at Cycle News. Over the course of his 35-some years of writing and shooting photos, he’s covered events from MotoGP to the Motocross World Championship - and everything in between.
