Enea Bastianini punished for Hungarian Sprint clash, despite ride-height claim

Enea Bastianini will serve a double long lap penalty in Sunday’s Hungarian MotoGP after colliding with Johann Zarco during Saturday’s Sprint race.

The Tech3 KTM rider was penalised by the FIM Stewards for “riding in an irresponsible manner” and “causing a crash” in the Turn 9 incident on the opening lap.

Bastianini claimed afterwards that his ride-height device had been damaged when he was hit by Fabio Quartararo at Turn 1, leaving him unable to stop properly under braking.

“I tried to continue, but the device was broken and I arrived at Turn 9 with the bike down,” said Bastianini. “I tried to brake much earlier than normal, but I didn’t stop the bike and we crashed."

He added: "I feel very sorry for [Zarco], but we could see very clearly in the data that I had a technical issue, so I am hoping that the race direction will understand."

However, the Stewards’ ruling made no mention of any mitigating circumstances, and the Tech3 press release later quoted Bastianini as saying the device "appeared broken", rather than "was broken".

But even if it had deployed incorrectly, a ride-height device in the lowered position is designed to help with braking performance. Meanwhile, helicopter images of the incident appear to show Bastianini missed his braking point relative to the riders ahead.

Alex Rins, who was passed by Bastianini in the braking zone just before he hit Zarco, said: "Luckily, I heard Bastianini in Turn 9. I picked up the bike and went straight."

Because it was his second offence of the season, Bastianini’s penalty is more severe than Quartararo’s single long lap, handed out for causing the earlier Turn 1 contact.

Stewards apply harsher sanctions for incidents at the start or opening lap of a race, due to the closer proximity of other riders and increased risk of injury.

The penalty is a bitter blow for Bastianini, who qualified as the top KTM in fourth on the grid. Quartararo starts on the dirty side of the track in sixth.

The long laps for Bastianini and Quartararo add to three-place grid penalties to be served by Alex Marquez and Jack Miller, for slow riding on the racing line during Friday practice.