MotoGP riders react to Marco Bezzecchi’s marshal slap and race ban

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The 2026 MotoGP grid has weighed in on Marco Bezzecchi’s altercation with a marshal, which resulted in the Aprilia rider being banned from competing in Sunday’s Czech Grand Prix.

Riders were unanimous in condemning Bezzecchi’s actions, even though they understood why he reacted in such a way in the heat of the moment.

However, opinions diverged when they were quizzed about the severity of the penalty. While some riders insisted the ban was severe, others argued it was necessary to establish a clear precedent.

Race bans are extremely rare in MotoGP and even in lower classes of motorcycle racing. The last time a grand prix rider received a suspension was in 2021, when Deniz Oncu was prohibited from taking part in two Moto3 weekends for causing a major crash in Austin.

In Brno, Bezzecchi was penalised for striking a marshal at least twice during the sprint race. The Italian crashed out at Turn 3 on the penultimate lap while running in fifth. While he initially accepted the incident and prepared to leave the track, he ran toward a marshal, who had accidentally revved up the engine while trying to lift the bike from the gravel trap.

Bezzecchi was visibly agitated by those events and struck the marshal, before walking away from the scene.

The steward panel led by former 500cc racer Simon Crafar subsequently banned him from taking part in Sunday’s race, with Aprilia’s appeal against the sanction rejected on Saturday night.

Bezzecchi later issued an apology on social media and personally visited the marshal stationed at Turn 3 on Sunday morning, with television footage showing the pair embracing following a chat.

However, the penalty had major ramifications on Bezzecchi’s championship challenge, with team-mate Jorge Martin slashing his lead down to just eight points.

Here is what the 2026 MotoGP riders said about Marco Bezzecchi’s actions and the subsequent penalty.

Marc Marquez

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

“I will not give any extra comments because there is already a lot of noise on social media.

“It can happen. We are young. We are learning things in front of millions of people. So, there with the full adrenaline, with maybe the frustration of the crash…

“Of course, I think he learned about it, but that's it. It’s just that we are learning things every day and most of us are around 20 and 30 years old, so still we have a lot of things to learn in life.”

Jorge Martin

“I think it's difficult to judge. In the heat of the moment, Marco did what he did. I think that after this penalty, he won't do it again.

“I know that marshals are there to help us. But sometimes, when you crash and you don't see what you want to see, you get angry. But for sure, I don't approve it [his actions].”

Luca Marini

“It's true that in that moment we have a lot of adrenaline as riders. He understood his mistake, he explained and he apologised and everything, so everybody agrees on his behavior today.

“We need to always be against violence, even if it is nothing crazy. But it's a behaviour that is not acceptable in any sport.

“The penalty is big because it never happened before. Sometimes in the past, we had some pushing or some shouting to the marshal and like this it never happened. so I can understand the stewards also taking this decision. Bez is the championship leader, which is making everything louder. If it was the last rider on the grid, maybe everything would pass more calmly.

“I think that everybody can understand the stewards. Also, Bez understood his mistake. I want to say that everybody here is in the same direction, that we are against any kind of violence.

“I think that every rider that is here in this paddock saw the penalty. They say, ‘Okay I understood’. But it's correct because at the end it's like they did a fantastic job for me in Moto3 putting more penalties for slowing down in the line, for causing crashes etc. This improves the behaviour of young riders so much.

“I think that in every sport, in every motorsport, the rules are really clear. If you make this mistake, you get this penalty. In MotoGP, we are improving it. Still sometimes, it's not so predictable. Sometimes you have some room for interpretation because it's also quite a difficult sport to understand from the outside.

“But every year, the stewards are doing a great job and improving, so we can just be happy and satisfied about their job because they are growing and listening to our feedback.”

Francesco Bagnaia

“I know him very well. I know how the adrenaline can affect you. This does not remove the things he did on the marshal because you cannot touch them. They are there working for you.

“But the punishment was very heavy. And suspension from a race is huge. We saw many similar things in the past. Never [such a penalty] happened. So just want to say that is huge.”

Cal Crutchlow

Cal Crutchlow, Team LCR Honda

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

“I've been in that position. You get up, no matter what's going on, no matter if you thought you could get back in the race, no matter if the bike was revving…people who have not done it and been in that situation, they don't get it.

“You are so hot, you're already pissed off that you crashed. Listen, what he did was completely wrong, but I understand that you want to smash everything around. I'm not saying that it should be people, or bikes, or walls, or whatever. It shouldn't be anything.

“Bull the riders will understand that feeling. I'm sure the stewards do as well, because one of them is an ex-rider. But in the end, this [hitting a marshal] can't be done, but it's an unfortunate situation.

“It's finished now, so it's done. He's had his penalty, he's said sorry, there's nothing else anybody can do. It's happened and that's it. I genuinely believe he's sorry, so it's just one of those things, and I think we move on from that.”

Pedro Acosta

“Hard penalty. I think the strongest that I have ever seen.

“Ok, we say that this is a sport that kids can see on TV. But finally, your parents are the ones that let you know what is good and what is bad.

“We are with adrenaline here. You just crash. If your bike maybe has a new engine, for example…

“I don't say [what Bezzecchi did] is good. There's no way to justify it. But everyone can or should be old enough to separate things.

“The penalty was hard, but I think it was the correct one.

“More than anything, we should respect everyone who is making this championship go, because without the marshals, we don't ride. So this is more like a respect penalty, let's say.”

Jack Miller

Jack Miller, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

“It's not my position to comment. We all f**k up. At the end of the day, we're all human. You say that you can't relate but you can relate in some sort of way. We all f**k up and we make mistakes. Today he paid for it.”

Fabio di Giannantonio

“I think my opinion is not really important. I'm just happy about the images that I saw this morning [of Bezzecchi going to the marshal]. At the end, on the human side, they meet.

“It was a nice image. It's always great when a man admits their fault. It's a mature thing, so I'm happy that somehow they meet.”

Franco Morbidelli

“I do have an opinion. Aleix Espargaro should have skipped that race in Qatar [in 2023] as well [for slapping me on track], because I'm a person, the steward is a person.

“What Marco did was a mistake and was a bad thing. It was a bad thing. I understand the penalty and I understand everything. I think about myself.

“If I put my ego out, I think about myself and when that time happened to me. When a guy that was racing with me made that gesture at me, and nothing happened to him that time. It was three years ago. Things have changed in three years. The stewards got more sensitive to this.

“I understand the penalty that was given to Marco.”