Fernandez Punished
N
ews dropped on Thursday,
June 4, at the Grand Prix of
Hungary that Moto3 title contend-
er Adrian Fernandez had been
disqualified from each of the first
six races due to an engine seal
on two engines of his Leopard
Honda Moto3 machine being
breached.
As part of cost-control regu-
lations, it's against the rules
to open or tamper with Moto3
engines. The seal was found
broken on the first engine after
the French GP and on the second
after the Italian GP. "The Techni-
cal Director determined, based on
physical inspection, manufacturer
evidence and examination of the
engine seals, that the integrity of
the approved sealing system had
been compromised and that the
engine had been opened without
authorization," read an official
statement.
Thus, Fernandez has lost the
77 points he scored in the first six
races, dropping him from third to
20th in the championship. Of his
six allocated engines for the year,
four have now been removed, as
each guilty engine was treated as
two. "An engine with damaged,
tampered with or missing secu-
rity seals is deemed to have been
rebuilt and must be treated as
a new engine in the rider alloca-
tion."
Leopard appealed the decision
but was ultimately dismissed. A
team statement read, "The team
considers that no clear evidence
has been presented to establish
whether and when the infringe-
ment is said to have occurred."
It has five days to appeal to the
International Court of Appeals.
This is the first time a situation
like this has occurred in Moto3.
Neil Morrison
WIND
IN THE
P20
Adrian Fernandez's Leopard Racing
Team have been very bad boys
according to the MotoGP technical
stewards, disqualifying him from
the first six races.
