Throwing punches isn’t officially part of motor sports — although, as FTW’s Ted Berg recently argued, maybe it should be — but that doesn’t stop competitors from fighting every once in a while.
During Costa Rica’s National Motorbike Championship last month, Jorge Martinez and Marión Calvo were racing in the Superbikes category, the BBC reported, when they got into it with each other. The situation escalated pretty quickly.
Although the mid-race, on-track fight occurred on February 17, the BBC explained, the clip of them fighting recently resurfaced and went viral as both riders have now been penalized with a two-year ban.
Both were running at full speed on the straight when in the middle of the fight for the position there was a touch that destabilized Martinez’s bike.
Before falling, the pilot reached to grab Calvo and as he could stayed on top of his rival’s bike, who managed to maintain control until he stopped almost at the end of the straight.
After Martinez lost his bike and was fully on top of Calvo’s, he threw the first punch and walked away, blaming Calvo for causing him to lose his balance, The Guardian reported.
But, as riders were still racing around them, Calvo responded by running after Martinez and shoving him nearly into traffic. They’re lucky they were both able to walk away.
The incident and appropriate punishment proves, once again, that until fighting is officially part of motor sports, it’s probably not a good idea, and you’ll go viral for all the wrong reasons.
(Thanks to Jalopnik for sharing.)
