MotoGP world championship leader banned after slapping marshal

MotoGP star Marco Bezzecchi has been banned from racing in the Grand Prix of Czechia after he slapped a race marshal.

The staggering incident occurred during the sprint race on Saturday.

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Bezzecchi came unstuck from his bike at the Turn 3 gravel trap with only two laps remaining.

Why did Bezzecchi slap a marshal?

As marshals worked to lift Bezzecchi’s Aprilia bike, one seemingly twisted the throttle and caused it to rev.

The act prompted a furious Bezzecchi to rush over and reprimand the marshal in the form of slapping him not once, but twice.

Bezzecchi then turned the engine off and walked away.

Unfortunately for the Italian, his act did not go unnoticed and unpunished by MotoGP’s stewards.

MotoGP comes down hard on Bezzecchi

Following a hearing on Saturday evening, the stewards panel confirmed in a statement Bezzecchi would be suspended from Sunday’s race.

“On 20th June 2026, at 16:07:41 during the MotoGP Sprint of the MONSTER ENERGY GRAND PRIX OF CZECHIA, following a crash you pushed and struck circuit Marshals who were trying to recover your machine,” the statement read.

“This is an action prejudicial to the interests of the sport and is therefore an infringement as described in Article 3.3.2.2 of the FIM Grand Prix World Championship Regulations: ‘Any corrupt or fraudulent act, or any action prejudicial to the interests of the meetings or of the sport, carried out by a person or a group of persons occurring during an event.'”

Bezzecchi’s crash at Brno was his fourth of the season in a sprint race.

Given there have been nine sprint races in the 2026 campaign, it’s an alarming amount of points the Italian has left on the table.

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It’s also allowed Bezzecchi’s rivals to close in on his world championship lead, as his Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin is just 15 points behind in the standings.

Bezzecchi reacts to repeated sprint struggles

When asked after the sprint race why he seemingly struggles more on Saturdays as opposed to race days on Sundays, Bezzecchi replied: “Yeah, that’s what I’m asking myself as well, you know.

“I would love to feel good every day on the bike, but for some reason I’m struggling on Saturday.

“And yeah, for sure, this situation is a bit difficult to manage, because at the beginning, ‘One mistake is okay, two mistakes is okay.’ But for today, I’m a bit sad.

“But, you know, Saturday is gone and I will think about the next Saturday when we are at Assen.”

Although Bezzecchi will not race on Sunday at the Masaryk Circuit, he won’t have to wait long to put things right.

The Italian’s next MotoGP event falls on June 28 in the Netherlands, although he’ll have another sprint race to contend with on June 27.