VOLUME 56 ISSUE 31 AUGUST 6, 2019 P61
start-finish straight was definitely
too wet.
As the riders were assembled
on the grid, there began a
period of arm-waving consul-
tation between Dorna chief
Carmelo Ezpeleta, race direc-
tor Mike Webb, sundry officials
and riders, with Rossi's views
very prominent. A delay of five
minutes was quickly superseded
by one of 40 minutes, the BMW
safety cars started lapping to
create a dry line, and everyone
hoped that if the still-threatening
rain did return, it would give the
track a proper drenching.
Happily, it stayed away, and
with race distance cut from 21 to
20 laps, the game began again.
It had been, thought Marc, the
right decision. Even Jack Miller,
BAD BOY VALE
Valentino Rossi was called before
the panel of stewards on Friday,
accused of failing to respond to
flags and a dashboard signal to
pull off the track after his engine
suffered a smoky blow-up. It hap-
pened early on the lap, and Rossi
said that at the first sign of trouble,
he'd pulled in the clutch. But he
completed the lap at low speed,
the engine smoking heavily as he
weaved from one side to the other,
to avoid the racing line. According
to race director Mike Webb, at the
time black-and-orange flags had
been displayed and a message sent
to the dashboard display. "It's a
standard thing—the normal protocol.
There was a flag out for sure. It was
fairly late in the lap because there
is always going to be a slight time
delay." Rossi was given an official
warning.
NO MORE ENGINES
Hopes of a potential rule change
allowing a single engine update
in the season, as with the current
aerodynamic regulations, were
baseless, it was concluded after a
meeting between HRC's Yokoyama,
Aprilia's Romano Albesiano and
Suzuki's Shinichi Sahara "It's not on
the table," said HRC's Yokoyama.
"If it were allowed, it would mean
engineers could make more chal-
lenge. Then if they had made a
mistake, they could recover during
the season." Under the current
restrictions, it was necessary to be
more conservative. "On the other
hand, it would mean more cost and
more manpower," he said. Suzuki's
Sahara concurred. "We have to
consider the cost," he said.
Briefly...
