The Dutch TT 2022 will be remembered for a longer time for Yamaha. Top star Fabio Quartararo fell twice and then received a penalty. The Japanese manufacturer went on vacation without World Championship points.
Fabio Quartararo fell in Assen on Sunday while trying to overtake his World Championship opponent Aleix Espargaró. The Spaniard was able to straighten his bike and resumed the race in 15th place. And was fourth. While the Yamaha factory rider also continued and crashed a second time, the FIM MotoGP stewards prepared a penalty for the Frenchman.
Quartararo has to complete a long lap penalty at the upcoming GP in Silverstone (August 7) because, according to stewards, he went into the maneuver with overmotivation. Fabio then made fun of the decision of those responsible: “Next time I will not try to overtake,” he emphasized cynically.
Now the Yamaha managers also commented on the situation. “Fabio Quartararo, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team and Yamaha have always stood for fairness and sportiness in MotoGP. We are disappointed to see the disparity with which penalties are applied by the FIM MotoGP Stewards Panel,” said Yamaha Managing Director and Monster Energy Yamaha Team Principal Lin Jarvis on Tuesday.
“We wanted to challenge the stewards’ decision at Assen on Sunday but unfortunately this type of penalty does not allow for discussion or appeal,” continued the Briton. “We then wanted to raise the issue with the CAS (Court of Arbitration of Sport), but even there such a matter is not contestable. Precisely for these reasons, stewards should primarily make correct, equitable and consistent decisions and execute them within the correct, reasonable time frame.”
Yamaha made it clear in the announcement that the inequality of stewards’ decisions meant that fairness in MotoGP would be damaged. “There have been at least three other serious racing incidents in the MotoGP class (resulting in riders dropping out of the race and/or causing injury) that went unpunished,” the Japanese manufacturer’s statement read.
Team director Massimo Meregalli had previously commented on the events. “We see Fabio’s first crash as a racing accident. The fact that race control punished Fabio for this incident is not only very harsh, but also incomprehensible when you see that accidents in previous races had no consequences,” said the Italian. “Fabio didn’t bring anyone down, Aleix scored points in the end.”