VOLUME 57 ISSUE 34 AUGUST 25, 2020 P45
FIM Stewards Called Out
I
t was another day for the FIM
Stewards to take a verbal kick-
ing at the Austrian MotoGP. All
weekend riders were express-
ing dismay at a lack of consis-
tency in their recent decisions,
with the decisions of ex-500cc
champ Freddie Spencer—Chair-
man of the FIM Stewards—com-
ing under scrutiny.
"Full credit and respect to
Freddie Spencer," Aleix Espar-
garo said on Thursday. "But
when was last time he rode a
MotoGP bike? I think we need
a position of somebody who
rode a MotoGP six, seven or
eight years ago that has been a
rider in the maximum class but
also understands the MotoGP
feeling."
If Jorge Martin was penal-
ized with a one-place penalty
for exceeding track limits on the
final lap of the Moto2 encounter,
then where was Pol Esaparga-
ro's penalty, Joan Mir wondered.
His issue was once pushed
wide onto the asphalt run-off
on the outside of the final turn,
the KTM rider accelerated as if
it were a normal piece of track.
He crossed the line just 0.011 of
a second ahead of Mir.
"We can see that when he
touched the green paint outside
the track he just opened up the
throttle," Mir said. "He was out
a lot. It makes no sense that this
is not penalized. You penalize
Martin, who didn't gain anything
and you don't penalize Pol, who
clearly gained on me." Suzuki
team boss Davide Brivio went
even further, telling Italian TV,
"Who knows why they didn't
penalize Pol when we are in
Austria, Red Bull's (KTM's main
sponsor) home."
Neil Morrison
Cool, calm and
collected, Oliveira
is emerging as a
serious MotoGP
talent. Is he the
new Andrea
Dovizioso?
