P126
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
T
here are various differ-
ent ways that a rider's
championship challenge
can come undone. Seldom is it
literally so.
It is obviously far too early
to say that Fabio Quartararo's
Catalunya wardrobe malfunction,
which ultimately dropped him
from a potential 25 points and
fourth win of the year to a mere
10-point sixth-place finish, will be
anything more than a temporary
blip on a so-far very convincing
progress. But stranger things
have happened.
The dust may have settled
since the event, but there has at
the time of writing been no really
plausible explanation of Zipgate:
the mysterious unravelling of the
front fastening of his leathers that
led to his downfall.
What we do know is that he
has proclaimed his own inno-
cence. Alpinestars likewise af-
firmed "no malfunction" with the
zipper. But something definitely
caused his zipper to come un-
done, and for him then to remove
the padded chest protector (held
in only by the leathers, with no
other fastening), and then finish
the remaining couple of laps with
his suit fully open to the waist,
having apparently resisted his
attempts to do it up again.
More mysteriously still, after
the flag, he was able to do it all
up again.
All very odd. After all, zips can
split apart under stress, or come
undone from the bottom. But
unzipping themselves like that?
That's something nobody inside
racing could remember. Even
outside racing. If not, men would
hardly be able to walk down the
street with confidence, without
having to check their trousers
every couple of steps.
Fabio's discombobulation cost
him more than just his dignity. He
was docked three seconds for
Zipgate
"Nobody likes to be punished, but it is easier to accept
when there is a reasoned argument behind it."
And Its
Deeper Implications
