FIM stewards cancel Marc Marquez's penalty for collision with Pol Espargaro in Catalunya Moto2 race

Marquez made contact with Espargaro while trying to retake the racing line following a mistake on the entry to Turn 10 with two laps to go.

Espargaro went down the inside as Marquez moved across the track, resulting in contact and a violent crash for the Pons rider. Marquez continued to finish third, but was initially demoted to 23rd by race direction, who ruled that he "rode in an irresponsible manner, causing danger to rider Pol Espargaro".

Marquez's Monlau team appealed against the verdict, and the FIM stewards "did not confirm the decision of the race direction and cancelled the penalty."

The stewards' decision means Marquez moves back up to second in the Moto2 standings, two points behind leader Thomas Luthi.

Marquez was contrite after the incident, saying he had not realised Espargaro was trying to pass.

"I want to say sorry to him but I didn't know he was right behind me," said Marquez.

Espargaro felt his move had been sensible.

"I'm not happy because always when you are racing at home, you want to do a good result and be in front," he told the official MotoGP website.

"Marc had a little bit of a problem on the entry of the corner and he was a little bit out. I tried to pass him on the inside of the corner and I think I had a good line, but Marc continued to the line from outside and he touched me and I had a big crash."

The initial decision to penalise Marquez had been criticised by MotoGP world champions Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi. Stoner welcomed news of the punishment's cancellation, but remained unimpressed by the process.

"Good to see they dropped Marquez's penalty," Stoner wrote on his Twitter feed. "Maybe they should consider all sides and views before they dish out penalties."