Stewards had a long, hard look at Marquez’s Jerez sprint win

Simon Crafar mentioned to Neil Hodgson that MotoGP stewards took a detailed look to see if Marc Marquez had broken any rules during his win in the Jerez Sprint.

Marquez’s second Sprint Race win of the 2026 season came last week at the Spanish Grand Prix. But it stirred up debate after he cut across the grass at the final corner on his way to pit following a crash.

The Ducati rider stayed out behind his brother, Alex Marquez, as rain began to fall over Angel Nieto circuit. But conditions worsened quickly, and he lost the front end of his GP26 while turning in.

Marquez reacted by grabbing the clutch to keep the engine running and waited for other riders who hadn’t yet pitted before cutting across the track. But many fans felt it should have resulted in a penalty.

Simon Crafar tells Neil Hodgson he checked if Marc Marquez broke any rules in the Jerez Sprint win

LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco was also caught off guard by the lack of punishment, saying Marquez should have completed another lap before heading to pit lane. In contrast, Aprilia’s Jorge Martin called it “amazing” that Marquez could still win after a crash.

No penalty came because Marquez hadn’t technically broken any rules. The defining white lines for track limits and pit entry aren’t the same at Jerez’s final corner, creating a situation where his move wasn’t punishable under current guidelines.

Crafar, chair of the FIM MotoGP Steward Panel, later explained to Hodgson that they had reviewed everything carefully before confirming no rule had been violated. Hodgson also called it “genius” how Marquez found his way to victory.

“There are rules for everything. And the stewards, I spoke to Simon, they had to have a really long, hard look through the book. And all the people that are paid decent money, all the experts, nobody could find one rule that that man broke.

“Look, you either like Marc or you don’t. But you have to admire tenacity, skill, intelligence, the wherewithal, everything. I can’t even think of the words.

“But all the haters, I went on X, and I can see all the haters… So much hate. I know generally if people are angry or grumpy, they’re more likely to post. But anyway, [there was] so much hate for Marc being a genius winning that race. I mean, it was incredible, wasn’t it?”

This time around, no rules were broken by how things stand now. Even so, there is said to be growing recognition inside MotoGP that clearer guidelines may be needed after such a divisive outcome.

The situation exposed an ambiguous part of the current regulations and raised calls for clarification on proper pit entry protocol—especially when conditions force creative solutions like what happened at Jerez.

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