MotoGP Stewards: Why Nakagami wasn’t penalised in Catalunya

Starting twelfth on the grid, Nakagami had climbed to fifth place when he lost the front of his LCR Honda under braking.

The resulting accident saw the Japanese rider’s helmet strike Francesco Bagnaia’s rear wheel, bringing the Ducati rider down, while Nakagami’s RCV took out Alex Rins.

Rins, who suffered a broken left wrist, and Bagnaia were among several riders to criticise the decision not to penalise Nakagami.

However, the FIM Stewards explained that the claim Nakagami had been reckless on the brakes and would not have made the corner, was countered by the video evidence.

'The FIM MotoGP Stewards reviewed the Turn 1 incident between riders Takaaki Nakagami, Alex Rins and Francesco Bagnaia from every angle. On the evidence provided by the multitude of angles available to the Stewards, including footage from the helicopter, it was judged a racing incident with no further action to be taken.

'Nakagami gained a number of positions in acceleration to move forward from his grid position. He was judged to have braked at a similar time to riders around him, gaining no significant distance on the brakes to indicate otherwise. Rider #30 then lost the front end and crashed, with motorcycle and rider thereafter making contact with Rins and Bagnaia.

'The established threshold for such incidents to incur a penalty is for a rider to clearly be seen carrying much too much speed, with no reasonable expectation of making the corner.'

Nakagami escaped serious injury, but was kept in hospital overnight for observation and, like Rins, has missed today's Official test.