Yamaha boss Massimo Meregalli considered that the long lap applied by the FIM (International Motorcycling Federation) Commissioners Panel is a harsh punishment, especially because nobody crashed with the Frenchman and Aleix Espargaró managed to score points in the race at Assen. The leader also recalled that the decision is inconsistent with the other decisions of the group formed by Andres Somolinos, Freddie Spencer and Raffaele De Fabritiis
Yamaha boss Massimo Meregalli criticized the punishment that the FIM (International Motorcycling Federation) Commissioners' Panel handed down to Fabio Quartararo for the incident with Aleix Espargaró at the Dutch GP on Sunday (27). The official considered the penalty not only harsh, but also inconsistent with other decisions by the group formed by Andres Somolinos, Freddie Spencer and Raffaele De Fabritiis.
On the fifth lap of the Assen race, Quartararo tried to attack Aleix at De Strubben, turn 5, but missed and crashed, pushing the Aprilia starter off the track. Both managed to get back into contention, but Fabio missed the flag, as the tumble damaged the traction control, which caused him to be ejected from the YZR-M1 later in the race.
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The elder Espargaró, on the other hand, relied on the good performance of the RS-GP to climb the field and, at the last chicane, even managed to pass Brad Binder and Jack Miller in one shot to finish fourth.
After the race, however, the Stewards Panel judged Fabio to be "over-ambitious" and decided to apply a long lap, which will have to be enforced at the British GP, scheduled for August 7 at Silverstone.
After the race, Maio lamented the team's negative result, as Franco Morbidelli also abandoned after a crash.
"This is a result we did not expect to record today," said Meregalli. "Fortunately, neither driver was injured in the crashes," he celebrated.
The manager stressed his dissatisfaction with the penalty and stressed that Yamaha will use the vacation weeks to be able to swallow the outcome of this GP in the Cathedral of Motorcycling.
"We started the race hoping we could put in a good performance. We were anyway well prepared for the race, but races are like that," he commented. "We see Fabio's first crash as a racing incident and feel that the Race Direction's decision to give him a sanction for the next race is not only harsh considering that no one crashed with him and Aleix still scored, but it is also not consistent with the racing incidents we have seen in previous GPs that have gone unpunished. Let's use this break to digest this GP and come back ready to fight at Silverstone in a month's time," he concluded.
MotoGP is now on vacation and will be back in action on August 7th for the British GP at Silverstone.GRANDE PRÊMIO is following all the activities of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship.