Yamaha expresses "disappointment and disagreement" over Quartararo sanction

The leader of the World Championship went down during the Dutch Grand Prix race held last Sunday, when he was trying to overtake Aleix Espargaró, whom he hit and took off the track. However, the Aprilia rider managed to keep the bike on top of the gravel and continue in the race, albeit far behind. Finally, the Spaniard went up positions and cut 13 points with the championship leader.

After the race, the stewards decided to penalize Fabio Quartararo with a Long Lap that he must complete in the next grand prix, at Silverstone, the first week of August, a new opportunity for the second overall, Espargaró, to close the gap.

The rider himself complained about such a decision on his social networks this Monday, and the Yamaha team has now joined in expressing, through a note, his “disappointment” at the sanction through the head of the races, Lin Jarvis.

“Fabio Quartararo, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team and Yamaha have always fought for fairness and sportsmanship in MotoGP. We are disappointed to see the inequality with which sanctions are applied by the FIM MotoGP stewards panel.”

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team does not agree with Sunday’s decision by the FIM MotoGP stewards panel for the following reasons:

Although Quartararo has admitted that he made a mistake at Turn 5 of the Assen TT Circuit on lap 5, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP considers it a racing incident. Quartararo has a reputation as a clean driver with no history of previous incidents. It was an honest mistake with no malicious intent.

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP reckons that Aleix Espargaró’s career was affected, but the severity of the impact is a matter of conjecture. The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP considers that the FIM MotoGP stewards panel is measuring the seriousness of race incidents with inconsistent and subjective criteria.

The inconsistency with which sanctions are applied by the FIM MotoGP stewards panel during the 2022 season damages the fairness of MotoGP and faith in the jurisdiction of the stewards. There have been at least three more serious race incidents in the MotoGP class (resulting in riders withdrawing from the race and/or causing injuries) that have gone unpunished.

“We wanted to appeal the decision of the stewards on Sunday at the Assen track, but this type of sanction cannot be discussed or appealed. So we wanted to raise the issue, in principle, with the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), but equally this matter it is not subject to appeal. Precisely for these reasons, the stewards must make correct, balanced and coherent decisions in the first place, and execute them in the correct and reasonable time”, ditch Jarvis in the note.

Crash of Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia Racing Team, Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing