With the crash of Assen and the contextual fourth place of his closest rival in the standings, Fabio Quartararo he put his world record at risk. The reigning champion now has a 21-point lead over Aleix Espargaró, a loot he will have to defend at Silverstone with a ‘ball and chain’. The steward they have in fact imposed on the French a long lap penalty for having sent Espargaró himself off the track in Holland. A penalty that will have to be served in the first three laps of Sunday’s race. Most likely, Quartararo will have to hope for an excellent qualifying and push like a madman in the opening stages of the Grand Prix, in order to create a gap with his pursuers and have as few positions as possible to climb.
The Diablo, however, does not want to think about it yet. He believes the stewards’ penalty has been exaggerated, but he doesn’t look for excuses. And from Silverstone he wants a solid weekend, as stated at the press conference: “Last year I managed to fight for the win, it’s a very technical track, especially in the first sector. There is no reason why I have to go slow here. The long lap penalty? We will approach the weekend in a normal way. It is certainly a great challenge, but I feel ready. But I keep saying that I don’t think the penalty is right. I understand that after the Montmeló accident (in which Takaaki Nakagami hit Alex Rins and ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia at the first corner, ed.) they wanted to change the rules a bit. However, I believe we need to find a balance between irresponsible driving and race accident. I know that I crashed and that Aleix could have achieved a better result, but in my opinion the penalty was not there. Anyway, it will be a normal race but with a different strategy. The long lap will be important, but it is not the last race of the season. I don’t have to go crazy thinking I have to take the long lap penalty as fast as possible, or that he has to win this race. In the first part of the holidays I was obsessed with doing this long lap quickly, but it’s not the right approach, I can’t risk falling“.
The reigning champion also spoke of the news of the day, Andrea’s retirement Dovizioso after Misano: “He is certainly experiencing a difficult year, we know how difficult it is if you stop for a year and then go back to running. If she’s not having fun, then it’s okay to have made up her mind. His career has been fantastic, I wish him the best“.
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