Aleix Espargaró has been penalized with a 10,000 euro fine and six grid positions for this Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix. The slap given by the Aprilia rider to Franco Morbidelli during FP2 on Saturday morning was seen by the stewards after Q2, in which Aleix finished in tenth place. Therefore, the Granollers driver should start from the 16th spot on Sunday (penalties are always served in the long race and not in the Sprint).
However, in Saturday evening’s short race in Lusail, Espargaro started from tenth place but was involved in an accident with Miguel Oliveira and Enea Bastianini at turn six of the first lap, with the Portuguese hitting the Aprilia rider causing both to fall with some consequence. The Catalan’s injury could prevent him from taking part in this afternoon’s match, so he would serve the penalty by returning to the airport.
The situation is reminiscent of what happened in the first Grand Prix of the season in Portimao. On the Sunday of that weekend, Marc Márquez hit Oliveira and Jorge Martín, injuring the Portuguese and fracturing the base of his right thumb himself. The Honda rider was penalized for his gesture with a fine that he would have had to serve in the next race, in Argentina. However, Marc missed the three Grands Prix following the one indicted and a case was born.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team
The College of Stewards decided to go back and correct the wording of the penalty, so that it would be served in the first race in which driver #93 took part. In Aleix’s case, everything indicated that it was an identical mistake to the one committed with Marc, and that the wording would be changed if the penalty could not be served this Sunday in Qatar.
“These are different cases,” explains a voice from Aprilia. “According to the regulations, if you suffer an injury in the action in which you are penalized, you are required to serve the penalty in the first match you participate in”, as happened with Márquez. “However, if you are penalized by any grid position or Long Lap Penalty without sustaining an injury in that action, the penalty is served in the same weekend’s race. If, for any reason, the driver is injured in a subsequent action, the penalty is taken for granted”, declared the Noale team.
Aleix took part in the MotoGP warm up this Sunday in Lusail to test his leg and body. The Aprilia rider finished 14th, with 5 laps under his belt, the fastest of which was just over a second behind his teammate Maverick Viñales, leader of the session. At the end of the warm up, he will decide with the doctors whether it is worth taking part in the race. The Granollers rider suffered a small fracture of the head of the fibula in his left leg.
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