YAMAHA WANTED TO PROTEST QUARTARARO PENALTY

Yamaha has spoken out about the penalty against Fabio Quartararo which he will carry into the British Grand Prix in five weeks’ time.

Quartararo attempted a move on title rival Aleix Espargaro and fell from his bike, the bike forced Espargaro to take evasive action and take a tour of the gravel trap.

Espargaro dropped from second to fifteenth, and as a result, the MotoGP Stewards panel deemed Quartararo was overly ambitious in his attempt to overtake the Aprilia rider.

They felt Quartararo was not in a position to successfully complete the move and subsequently crashed, causing contact with #41 and forcing him to run wide.

The avoiding action undertaken by Espargaro allowed him to avoid crashing and re-join. Nevertheless, his race was severely impacted.

Quartararo has been handed a long-lap penalty which he must serve at the British Grand Prix.

The Frenchman voiced his frustration on social media and Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis has followed suit in a press release from the factory Yamaha team. In it Jarvis explains he would have liked to have appealed the penalty.

“Fabio Quartararo, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team, and Yamaha have always striven for fairness and sportsmanship in MotoGP,” he said.

“We are disappointed to see the inequality with which penalties are applied by the FIM MotoGP Stewards panel.”

“We wanted to appeal the decision of the Stewards on Sunday at the Assen track, but this type of penalty is not open to discussion or appeal.

“We then wanted to raise the issue, as a matter of principle, with CAS (Court of Arbitration of Sport), but equally such a matter is not open to appeal.

“It is precisely for these reasons that correct, balanced, and consistent decisions should be taken by the Stewards in the first place and executed within the correct, reasonable time frame.”

The factory Yamaha team listed further points that it disagrees with.

– Whilst Quartararo has admitted to making a mistake in Turn 5 at the TT Circuit Assen on lap 5, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP view this as a race incident. Quartararo has the reputation of being a clean rider, without a track record of prior incidents. It was an honest mistake without malicious intent.

– Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP acknowledges that Aleix Espargaro‘s race was affected, but the severeness of the impact is a matter of conjecture. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP feel the FIM MotoGP Stewards panel is measuring the severity of race incidents with inconsistent, subjective standards.

– The inconsistency with which penalties are applied by the FIM MotoGP Stewards panel during the 2022 season damages the fairness of MotoGP and the faith in the Stewards‘ jurisdiction. There have been at least three more serious race incidents in the MotoGP Class (resulting in riders retiring from the race and/or causing injuries) that were left unpunished.

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