I
s it inevitable that rules spoil
racing? Seems so, as a thick-
ening forest of details in the
expanding
MotoGP rulebook
combine to impinge on race
results. A matter of not seeing
the wood for the trees.
The track-limits controversy is
a frequent case in point.
Race podiums and even vic-
tories snatched away for the of-
fense of exceeding track limits
on
the last lap. This carries an
automatic penalty: usually drop
one position.
Most recently it happened to
Brad Binder at Assen. Twice.
The KTM rider was set for the
podium in both the Sprint and
Sunday's main race, but, on both
occasions, he narrowly clipped
the green paint on the left kink
after the Stekkenwal right-
hander.
Deliberate? Definitely not.
Any advantage gained? Again,
definitely not. A perfectly normal
event in the heat of battle. Yet
in the Sprint, a three-second
penalty dropped him from third
to fifth. And in the main race, he
dropped from third to fourth.
A natural gentleman, he
took his punishment without
complaint. And even blamed
himself: "I feel like braindead to
have done it again," he said. Yet
it remained deeply unfair.
Penalties for exceeding track
limits have been around for
more than five years. The last-
lap refinement had a particular
trigger point… at Misano in
2019. In the Moto2 race, rookie
Fabio di Giannantonio, riding a
Speed Up (ancestor of today's
P130
CN II IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
RACE
RESULTS
WILTING
UNDER
PRESSURE
