who handed out the bollocking
and was turfed out on his ear for
his trouble.
Zarco's target was FIM Stew-
ards Chairman Freddie Spencer,
the riders'
favorite hate figure.
Zarco may be the most outspoken,
but he is far from the first to turn
against the former racing legend.
At 33, he's not the oldest rider
on the grid—Aleix Espargaro
(another with plenty of opinions)
is 14 days short of a year older—
and has more GP starts. But the
Frenchman has his two Moto2
titles, and at least as clear a
grasp of the ethics, the rights
and wrongs, of racing.
And having extended his
racing career with a two-year
help-Honda-recover contract,
probably his last, has no need to
curry favor or mince his words.
Oddly, what triggered his
anger was not a punishment,
but the lack of punishment. To
T
he usual way it goes when
riders are called in front
of the FIM stewards is for
them to get a bollocking and
maybe a fine or another penalty.
Although they do get a chance
to state their case.
Johann Zarco, elder states-
man of the grid, turned that
upside
down at Jerez.
Instead, it was the French
-
man, famously articulate and
always verging on the verbose,
P130
CN II IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
ZARCO
ATTACKS
SPENCER,
OMERTA
PREVAILS
