Jorge Lorenzo has hit out at race direction after Valentino Rossi was handed just three penalty points for the incident with Marc Marquez in today’s MotoGP race.

After an intense battle, Rossi ran Marquez out wide at Turn 14 and as the pair came together, it appeared that the Italian nudged the Repsol Honda with his knee, causing him to crash out of the race.

As a result, Rossi was given three penalty points from Race Direction which mean he’ll start from the back of the grid for the final round at Valencia, but Lorenzo says this isn’t enough.

"I don’t think it is a good decision,” he said after the race. "He took out Marc, Marc crashed and gets zero points but Valentino gets 16 points. I think it’s unfair and maybe because of his name he can get no points penalisation.

"When I saw it i didn’t believe it. It doesn’t enter in my head to do this kind of thing, never in my life. In this kind of corner you are completely in the angle of braking so to move like that with the leg it is unbelievable that this happened.”

Lorenzo said he feels Rossi should have been disqualified from the race.

"At minimum he should have the same points as Marc. Without this action Marc would not crash and would have finished in third or fourth. If he didn’t finish the race and get zero points Valentino should get the same. Less aggressive actions from other riders has resulted in much higher penalties. His name is very important for the championship and maybe because of that he doesn’t get any penalisation of points in the championship. Yes, he will start last but it’s not fair. We’ll have to respect this, I’m not in race direction but I don’t share their view.

"I don’t think this type of action is a great action from a champion like Valentino Rossi. One thing is the contact, but it is another to put the leg out, contact the rider, look at the rider and push out to make him crash.

"I’m going to try to accept the decision, I don’t know what I can do more. If he starts from the last position in the rain he will stay there for one or two laps or if it’s dry he will have more problems but he can be world champion and this is not a fair final of the championship knowing what happened today on the track. If this happens, he will not be a fair champion this time.”