Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1031651
VOL. 55 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 P143 Federation had cancelled his racing license; and the FIM was contemplating its own judgment. Did this show up Race Direc- tion as being complicit in what some were calling "attempted murder," or was everyone else jumping on a holier-than-thou bandwagon? Race Direction does include in its number Loris Capirossi, no stranger to rough-edged racing. He won the 1998 250 champi- onship by T-boning teammate Tetsuya Harada into the barriers in Argentina and was black- flagged the following year for an equally potentially murderous start-line attack on pole qualifier Marcellino Lucchi. Cal Crutchlow first publicly called for a life ban, and given who he is (a self-confessed "crasher," but only on his own account, not deliberately into anybody else) you have to re- spect his opinion. "The sport is dangerous enough already," he said. The message being "he could have killed him." And this is hypo- thetically true. Fatal crashes are nowadays mercifully very rare, but they remain entirely possible, every time a rider falls off. (In the manic Manzi's case, he had already cheated death a record 22 times this year.) Other top riders stopped short of a life ban. Punishment, yes. Crucifixion? No. And by the time they'd ar- rived at Aragon for the following round, many of them had found sympathy for their fallen com- rade. Crutchlow hadn't exactly softened his view, but did say: "I'm no angel." It was Dovizioso who was the most emphatic. Yes, he af- firmed, of course Fenati de- served punishment, of sufficient severity that it would convince other riders to behave them- selves, too. He and likewise Marquez reserved their biggest condem- nation for the ghouls of social media, who had leapt to the most severe judgment from the comfort of their own virtual keyboards. Judgment that cost them precisely nothing. The question of rider punish- ment, and just what is appropri- ate, remains vexed. After all, given the fatal poten- tial of any and every spill, did not Rossi deserve something similar when he so cynically forced Marquez off the track in Malaysia in 2015? Also Marquez (at least in Rossi's opinion) for his barg- ing attack in Argentina this year? And so many others. Back in the day, and in lower forms of racing, grabbing at a brake lever was far from un- known, especially in sidecar racing, where a passenger could easily find the devil's work for his idle hands. Doesn't make it acceptable. Just not unprec- edented. Nor was it unknown for Rossi and his Japanese rivals to grab one another's seat humps in the 125 class. All in fun, of course, and not especially dangerous. Up to a point. Happily, Fenati himself isn't going to bring any of this up, at least not for the moment. He has quit. At least, that is his deci- sion so far. Just as well, really. It means the skeletons can stay in the cupboards, for the good of everybody. Perhaps those social-media judges might also take the time to see him as victim as well as villain—and not only of his own anger management problems, though this not the first ex- ample—kicking out at Niklas Ajo in Argentina in 2015 in morning warm-up, then switching his Moto3 bike off at the practice- start zone (back of the grid penalty); then losing his rag once too often in the SKY VR46 Moto3 pit in 2016 (summarily dismissed, and frozen out of the Rossi ménage). Thing is, Fenati is also hugely talented, and as for many riders this gift is also an oner- ous burden. That's why in so many cases their personalities change, much for the better, when they retire, because the pressure of being so good can be very hard to bear. Better than being no good at all, though. At least he can tell himself that. CN