IN
THE
WIND
P36
JOBS ON
THE LINE
FOLLOWING
MALAYSIAN
FALLOUT
T
he MotoGP Permanent
Bureau, an authoritive body
made up of Dorna CEO Carmelo
Ezpeleta and FIM President Vitto
Ippolito, released a statement at
Valencia that carried an ominous
phrase, suggesting that heads
may roll as a result of the media
storm (both social and other-
wise) following the post-race de-
cision to hit Valentino Rossi with
three points on his licence and
a consequent back-row start for
the final showdown following the
Malyasia clash.
A large body of opinion holds
that much of the furore could
have been avoided had Rossi's
disastrous move on Marquez
been punished immediately,
probably with a ride-through
penalty, although some think he
deserved to be disqualified. This
was what happened at Le Mans
in 2011, when a reckless move
by Marco Simoncelli caused
Dani Pedrosa to crash out. He
was promptly called in for a
ride-through. Instant justice,
end of story. Others pointed out
that earlier this year Moto3 rider
Karel Hanika was awarded five
penalty points for deliberately
causing Juanfran Guevara to
crash at Jerez. Admittedly Gue-
vara was injured, but the basic
facts were not so different.
Race director Mike Webb
explained that the decision at
Sepang had been delayed until
after the race to allow more time
to examine the footage and to
hear both riders' explanations,
since it was so important for the
championship.
According to the Permanent
Bureau statement: "We would
like to emphasise that for next
year some changes will be
made to prevent this from hap-
pening again."
Vague, but carrying overtones
of perhaps more than a change
in race management structure—
and possibly a change of per-
sonnel, with somebody having
to play the scapegoat.
Race direction is made up of
director Mike Webb, plus Dorna
representative Xavier Alonso,
FIM safety officer Franco Uncini
and riders' representative Loris
Capirossi.
If heads will roll, that of Webb
could be in the firing line.
A potentially more worthwhile
change would be to remove
commercial influence from the
body, and leave sporting deci-
sions to the federation, as is the
case in Formula 1. However, the
FIM sacrificed all but a figure-
head role in the original contract
with Dorna.
Michael Scott
Mike Webb's neck could be on the chopping block.
