The MotoGP steward panel is not experiencing a moment of great popularity, but it certainly did not make any new supporters over the Mugello weekend. Yesterday the three-place grid penalty inflicted on Pecco Bagnaia for having obstructed Alex Marquez in yesterday’s afternoon free practice session caused a lot of discussion.
Today there were at least a couple of episodes that came under the magnifying glass and they both occurred in the early stages of the Sprint. On the third lap, Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini touched at San Donato and the Italian driver’s race ended in the gravel of the escape route. Almost at the same time, Miguel Oliveira lost the front of his Aprilia after a rather aggressive entry to the detriment of Fabio Quartararo at Scarperia and the result was that both ended up spinning.
In both situations, the commissioners opened an investigation, which however very quickly ended in nothing. Decisions that left the Yamaha rider particularly perplexed, who went to the Race Direction for clarification, which however did not seem to convince him at all.
“I wanted to talk to them just to explain the situation a little, but it’s like talking to a wall, which doesn’t say a word. I left more confused than when I arrived: it seems like I’m talking to someone who has never run, so it’s sad and I think we need to make people more competent,” said “El Diablo” when he met the media in the press room.
Among other things, the Frenchman underlined that the intent of his visit was not so much to penalize his opponent, but to make it clear that something needs to change in the way the panel operates.
“I wanted to see the stewards not to get a penalty for Miguel, but just to make sure that they realize that they are not doing a good job. I didn’t go to say that they should give him a long lap penalty or three places on the grid, but I didn’t see any reaction from them.”
“For me Miguel made a mistake, it can happen. It happened to me, Aleix didn’t even fall and they gave me a long lap penalty (reference to the Assen race two years ago, ed.). I just wanted to tell him that for But the work they’re doing isn’t that great.”
After all, he wasn’t playing much today, but there are those who are fighting for the World Championship and deserve fairer treatment: “As I said, I don’t want any penalties for Miguel. We just have to realize that if I’m playing for the championship and this happens to me without anyone being penalized, it’s not the same thing.”
“Right now it’s complicated, we don’t have data for the race, and in any case today I wasn’t gaining points. But it’s just a matter of improving the functioning of the system and we’re not making any steps forward for this weekend,” he concluded.
#MotoGP #Quartararo #stings #Spencer #commissioners #raced
