Petronas Sprinta Racing's John McPhee has apologised for his part in the gravel trap brawl between Jeremy Alcoba (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) and himself in the closing stages of Sunday's Moto3™ Grand Prix of Doha.
Alcoba clipped the real wheel of McPhee's Petronas teammate, Darryn Binder, with his bike springing up and hitting McPhee. The pair then came to blows at Turn 1, with punches and kicks thrown in both directions as frustrations got the better of them.
The pair were handed pitlane start penalties for the upcoming Portuguese Grand Prix, as well as a ten-second penalty for McPhee and five seconds for Alcoba. Plus, they were fined €1,000 each for their part in the scrap.
Now, though, McPhee has come out to say sorry for his role in the fight, admitting his exasperation at being taken out, through no fault of his own, on back-to-back weekends got the better of him.
"I let my emotions get the better of me in Qatar," started the Scot. "Having been taken down for the second week in succession as a consequence of another rider’s mistake. I must apologise for my conduct – I didn’t react well to the incident.
"It is an adrenaline-fuelled sport, with obvious inherent danger; having a competitor’s bike strike my head triggered an out-of-character response and I’d like to apologise to the fans, my team, PETRONAS and our partners. I accept the penalty and will move onto Portimao focused on the task at hand."