“Go to Safety Commission with an iPad to ask: ‘Why did you penalise me?’”

The vital meeting between MotoGP riders and FIM Stewards was “not managed in the right way” if “nothing came out of it”, says Sylvain Guintoli.
Miguel Oliveira, Fabio Quartararo , Grand Prix Of The Amercias, 13 April
Miguel Oliveira, Fabio Quartararo , Grand Prix Of The Amercias, 13 April

The mood appeared to be flat after the riders emerged from a crunch discussion in the Safety Commission at the French MotoGP in Le Mans, where they were due to debate the quantity of recent penalties.

Luca Marini was “angry” because he believes the stewards went back on their word just hours later in Saturday’s sprint race.

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“It looks like nothing came out of it,” Guintoli said about the important meeting to BT Sport.

“If I was a rider I would have gone in with my iPad, with footage from Jerez, and showed everybody! 

Fabio Quartararo was penalised for taking out Miguel Oliveira [in Jerez] but this was clearly a racing incident. 

“Show them this image in front of the stewards and in front of all the MotoGP riders and ask: ‘Why did you penalise me there?’ 

“Then they would explain. And all the riders would have explained to [the stewards], because they would all agree, that actually this was a racing incident and there was nothing you could do about it. 

Fabio Quartararo crash, MotoGP race, Spanish MotoGP, 30 April
Fabio Quartararo crash, MotoGP race, Spanish MotoGP, 30 April

“[The stewards] would have had nowhere to go. I don’t know how this meeting was managed but, if nothing came out of it, it wasn’t managed in the right way. 

“Everything that happened in Jerez - there was a lot to talk about, a lot to argue about, to find a better way forward. 

“We don’t want to ruin the show, we don’t want penalties like that.

“Quartararo had his race ruined, he could have done much better. The stewards need to be open to criticism.”

Are MotoGP riders satisfied?

Mooney VR46 rider Marini raged: “We spoke about everything. And they said that Pecco in Jerez, the drop one position [penalty] was correct for them.

“So why [in the sprint] didn’t they apply the same penalty, the same rule, [when] Binder pushed me out of the track? And when Marquez hit Pecco when he overtook him? So another time, there is no consistency.

“It's really strange because at the end of their Safety Commission speech, I asked, 'if there is a contact and a rider hits the other rider and gains the position, disturbs [them] and causes a consequence to the other rider, there is the drop one position?’ They say ‘yes’.

“So today there was a clear episode of this and they did not apply the rule.”

Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro said: “I don't want to talk more about the Stewards. No meaning. From today until Valencia, please don't ask me because I will not respond.”

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