Marc Marquez returns to MotoGP at Aragon Grand Prix after a 110-day absence

By Sep 14, 2022, 4:30 PM EDT
Marquez returns MotoGP Aragon
Steve Wobser / Getty Images
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After completing a successful test at the Misano World Circuit in Italy, Marc Marquez returns to MotoGP action in this week’s Aragon Grand Prix in his native Spain. Marquez has been sidelined since the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, a race in which he finished 10th, due to an arm injury.

At the time, Marquez said at MotoGP.com: “Unfortunately, I have to take a break from the 2022 season that will keep me away from competition for a while. After all these months of intense work with my new medical team in Madrid, my physical condition has improved and I have reduced the discomfort in my right arm to be able to compete at the Grands Prix, but I still have significant limitations in my humerus that does not allow me to ride the bike properly and achieve the goals I have always set for myself.

“It is for this reason, that together with my medical team … and after consulting with specialists from the Mayo Clinic, that I have made the decision to carry out a new operation with the aim of improving my position on the bike that will allow me to ride without the current limitations. Personally, I have the maximum motivation and enthusiasm to continue working and to make the effort to return to compete at the highest level.”

In the two-day test in Misano, Marquez steadily improved from 17th in the first practice session on Tuesday, skipped the afternoon test, but was 10th in the morning session on Wednesday, and seventh that afternoon. Marquez had a gap of 1.2 seconds to the session leader, Fabio Quartararo.

Following the test, Marquez returned home to continue rehabbing his arm. He announced he was cleared to race on Tuesday.

Since earning his sixth MotoGP championship in 2019, Marquez has been plagued by an arm injury that was first sustained in the 2020 season opener at Qatar when he crashed multiple times and eventually made contact with his own tire. At the time, Marquez’s prognosis was day to day.

After missing the opening races of 2021, Marquez returned to the series with the Portuguese GP and finished seventh. That season, he earned three victories in 18 races including a stunner at the Circuit of the Americas when he led all 20 laps. Marquez also stood on the podium in Aragon in this race last year. Despite missing four races, he finished seventh in the standings.

As the arm continued to slow Marquez, he nevertheless showed consistency at the beginning of the season with results ranging from fourth to sixth in his first five starts. His 10th-place finish in the Italian GP gives him a sweep of the top 10 – a streak he hopes to continue with six rounds remaining in the 2022 season.

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Winner Josef Newgarden earns $3.666 million from a record Indy 500 purse of $17 million

By May 29, 2023, 6:01 PM EDT
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INDIANAPOLIS — The first Indy 500 victory for Josef Newgarden also was the richest in race history from a record 2023 purse of just more than $17 million.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, who continued his celebration Monday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earned $3.666 million for winning the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The purse and winner’s share both are the largest in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

It’s the second consecutive year that the Indy 500 purse set a record after the 2022 Indy 500 became the first to crack the $16 million mark (nearly doubling the 2021 purse that offered a purse of $8,854,565 after a crowd limited to 135,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

The average payout for IndyCar drivers was $500,600 (exceeding last year’s average of $485,000).

Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske, whose team also fields Newgarden’s No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, had made raising purses a priority since buying the track in 2020. But Penske but was unable to post big money purses until the race returned to full capacity grandstands last year.

The largest Indy 500 purse before this year was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indy 500 won by Scott Dixon (whose share was $2,988,065). Ericsson’s haul made him the second Indy 500 winner to top $3 million (2009 winner Helio Castroneves won $3,048,005.

Runner-up Marcus Ericsson won $1.043 million after falling short by 0.0974 seconds in the fourth-closest finish in Indy 500 history.

The 107th Indy 500 drew a crowd of at least 330,000 that was the largest since the sellout for the 100th running in 2016, and the second-largest in more than two decades, according to track officials.

“This is the greatest race in the world, and it was an especially monumental Month of May featuring packed grandstands and intense on-track action,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “Now, we have the best end card possible for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500: a record-breaking purse for the history books.”

Benjamin Pedersen was named the Indy 500 rookie of the year, earning a $50,000 bonus.

The race’s purse is determined through contingency and special awards from IMS and IndyCar. The awards were presented Monday night in the annual Indy 500 Victory Celebration at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The payouts for the 107th Indy 500:

1. Josef Newgarden, $3,666,000
2. Marcus Ericsson, $1,043,000
3. Santino Ferrucci, $481,800
4. Alex Palou, $801,500
5. Alexander Rossi, $574,000
6. Scott Dixon, $582,000
7. Takuma Sato, $217,300
8. Conor Daly, $512,000
9. Colton Herta, $506,500
10. Rinus VeeKay, $556,500
11. Ryan Hunter‐Reay, $145,500
12. Callum Ilott, $495,500
13. Devlin DeFrancesco, $482,000
14. Scott McLaughlin, $485,000
15. Helio Castroneves, $481,500
16. Tony Kanaan, $105,000
17. Marco Andretti, $102,000
18. Jack Harvey, $472,000
19. Christian Lundgaard, $467,500
20. Ed Carpenter, $102,000
21. Benjamin Pedersen (R), $215,300
22. Graham Rahal, $565,500*
23. Will Power, $488,000
24. Pato O’Ward, $516,500
25. Simon Pagenaud, $465,500
26. Agustín Canapino (R), $156,300
27. Felix Rosenqvist, $278,300
28. Kyle Kirkwood, $465,500
29. David Malukas, $462,000
30. Romain Grosjean, $462,000
31. Sting Ray Robb (R), $463,000
32. RC Enerson (R), $103,000
33.  Katherine Legge, $102,000

*–Broken down between two teams, $460,000 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $105,500 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports