FIM Stewards penalise Zarco for Morbidelli incident
Having summoned Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli to a hearing on Thursday, and reviewed all available video evidence, the FIM MotoGP Stewards have penalised the Avintia rider.
The Stewards - Bill Cumbow, Freddie Spencer and Ralph Bohnhorst - determined that: 'There was evidence of irresponsible riding from Johann Zarco, which has resulted in a penalty.
Having summoned Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli to a hearing on Thursday, and reviewed all available video evidence, the FIM MotoGP Stewards have penalised the Avintia rider.
The Stewards - Bill Cumbow, Freddie Spencer and Ralph Bohnhorst - determined that: 'There was evidence of irresponsible riding from Johann Zarco, which has resulted in a penalty.
'The Frenchman will start his next MotoGP race from pitlane.'
The official judgement is as follows:
Motive
'On the 16 August 2020 at 14:12 during the MotoGP race at the MyWorld MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX VON OSTERREICH, at Turn 2 you were found to be riding in an irresponsible manner causing a crash.
'This contravenes article 1.21 of the FIM World Championship Grand Prix regulations "Riders must ride in a responsible manner which does not cause danger to other competitors or participants, either on the track or in pit lane."
Sanction
'For the above reasons and taking into account the seriousness of the offence, the MotoGP Stewards Panel has issued you a penalty to start from the pit lane for your next [race].'
The incident between Zarco and Morbidelli occurred on lap 9 of Sunday's race, when Zarco made an inside pass on Morbidelli for eighth place as they entered the 300km/h Turn 2 left-hand kink.
However the pair then tangled on the exit, Morbidelli hitting the rear of Zarco's bike as he drifted across under braking for Turn 3.
The shocking consequence was that Morbidelli's fallen machine narrowly avoided wiping out Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales at the sharp Turn 3 right-hander, where Zarco's broken Ducati also flew over Vinales.
The Avintia team said data showed Zarco braked later on the exit of Turn 2 than at any time in the race.
However on Thursday, Morbidelli, who apologised for calling Zarco a 'half-assassin' on Italian TV last Sunday, countered that: "Presenting the fact that he braked two metres later means nothing because the approach to the corner was wrong, the overtaking manoeuvre was wrong and the exiting line was wrong."
Zarco insisted he was not especially wide and TV images suggested a sweeping line on the exit of Turn 2 was his normal trajectory.
But Turn 2 on lap 9 was not a 'normal' situation, in the sense that Zarco had only just overtaken Morbidelli and would have known the Italian was close to him, on the outside.
The question to be judged by the FIM Stewards – after analysing video evidence and speaking separately to each rider on Thursday afternoon - was therefore whether Zarco had given Morbidelli reasonable room or, as claimed by Valentino Rossi, swooped across in front of the #21 and 'braked in his face'.
One of the most terrifying #MotoGP crashes we've EVER seen!!!
— MotoGP (@MotoGP) August 17, 2020
Watch the Turn 3 accident from all angles! #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/L2GLToviFi
"By moving quickly to the right and braking 'in the face' of Franco, he [Zarco] did not give him space to slow down, so Morbidelli couldn't do anything but hit him at full speed," Rossi wrote on Instagram.
"I explained everything [to the Stewards] and we even had good proof with the data," Zarco said on Thursday evening. "From my opinion, there should not be any penalties because I didn't do anything crazy. but let's see what the decision is…"
Zarco underwent surgery for a fractured scaphoid bone in his right wrist, caused by the accident, on Wednesday but still hopes to ride on Saturday. Morbidelli escaped serious injury and is fit to compete this weekend.
The tyre wall at Turn 3 has been extended for this weekend, to try and avoid a repeat of fallen bikes crossing the track.
