IN
THE
WIND
P52
MOTO3 RIDERS PUT ON NOTICE
M
oto3 riders were warned
again on race eve at Motegi
in a special summit meeting
threatening heavily increased
fines and other punishments
for the still widespread practice
of dawdling on track or in pit
lane in qualifying, waiting for a
slipstream.
Race Director Mike Webb was
flanked by Dorna Chief Carmelo
Ezpeleta and the FIM Stewards
as he laid down the law. While
no new formal penalties were
announced, he promised that
earlier threats of pit-lane starts
and even disqualification were
now all the more imminent.
Later, he explained his posi-
tion. "They are young children,
and they have to learn," he told
Dorna.com.
The problem is almost un-
known in Moto2 and MotoGP,
and the biggest issue was
safety.
"The younger riders aren't so
aware of the dangers," he said.
At the meeting he had shown
clips of accidents caused by
riders going slowly on the racing
line.
He didn't want to introduce
new regulations or new methods
of qualifying in the middle of the
season, he continued, but he
had told the riders that penalties
for repeat offenders would be
much stronger for the rest of this
season.
The threats became reality for
two riders on Saturday, with SKY
VR46 KTM's Andrea Migno and
Aspar Mahinda rider Lorenzo
Dalla Porta confined to the bar-
racks for the first half of Satur-
day's 40-minute qualifying.
Migno, winner of the Mugello
race, and former Junior World
Champion Dalla Porta were
fingered as repeat offenders,
even in advance of the qualifying
session, which is the most usual
theater for this offence.
Notably, there was no such
behavior to be seen in the after-
noon session. CN
Moto3 riders waiting for a tow
on the racing line now face
possible disqualification.
