Photo: motogp.com
MotoGP Race Director Mike Webb explained the reasons that led to the penalty administered to Andrea Iannone following the incident that took place during the premier class race at Barcelona, Spain.
We remind you that almost two weeks ago, Ducati factory rider Andreea Iannone crashed his bike into Jorge Lorenzo's Yamaha, taking him out in the Grand Prix of Catalunya.
The Race Direction reviewed the incident and had a talk with both riders, and the hearings ended with Iannone starting from the last position on the grid in the next race that will take place this weekend at Assen, in the Netherlands.
Webb offered some details from the hearings of both riders, and it was surprising to learn that neither Iannone nor Lorenzo braked in a different way approaching the corner where the two bikes clashed. Mike Webb adds that both riders brought telemetry evidence at the hearing and, in each case, the data indicated that they braked at the same point as before in the race.
"When I first spoke with Iannone the first thing he said was that his data showed that he braked at the normal place and that Jorge was very slow and he couldn’t avoid him – so I looked at data from both bikes. Actually, what it showed was that they both braked at their normal braking points. We looked at all the laps, and they both braked in a normal manner. Iannone is telling the truth, but Jorge also did nothing unusual," Web tells MCN.
Lorenzo added that he had a terrible feel with his front end for the entire race. This might explain the crash, despite the fact that both riders did nothing wrong, basically. It was just the fact that Iannone expected Lorenzo to be much faster when he caught up with him. Webb adds that it's the duty of the rider behind to watch out and avoid collisions with the ones ahead.
Even though there was no illegal intention in Iannone's riding style, it was the same type of mistake for the Ducati rider, and for the second time in this championship, so the Race Direction together with the Stewards Panel agreed on a higher penalty.
After the decision had been made, the 2015 World Champion said that he was nowhere near happy with it and Iannone's punishment should have been much harsher. However, the decision is final and Iannone starts last on the grid.
We remind you that this is the first time when the Assen TT race is held on a Sunday.
The Race Direction reviewed the incident and had a talk with both riders, and the hearings ended with Iannone starting from the last position on the grid in the next race that will take place this weekend at Assen, in the Netherlands.
Webb offered some details from the hearings of both riders, and it was surprising to learn that neither Iannone nor Lorenzo braked in a different way approaching the corner where the two bikes clashed. Mike Webb adds that both riders brought telemetry evidence at the hearing and, in each case, the data indicated that they braked at the same point as before in the race.
"When I first spoke with Iannone the first thing he said was that his data showed that he braked at the normal place and that Jorge was very slow and he couldn’t avoid him – so I looked at data from both bikes. Actually, what it showed was that they both braked at their normal braking points. We looked at all the laps, and they both braked in a normal manner. Iannone is telling the truth, but Jorge also did nothing unusual," Web tells MCN.
Lorenzo added that he had a terrible feel with his front end for the entire race. This might explain the crash, despite the fact that both riders did nothing wrong, basically. It was just the fact that Iannone expected Lorenzo to be much faster when he caught up with him. Webb adds that it's the duty of the rider behind to watch out and avoid collisions with the ones ahead.
Even though there was no illegal intention in Iannone's riding style, it was the same type of mistake for the Ducati rider, and for the second time in this championship, so the Race Direction together with the Stewards Panel agreed on a higher penalty.
After the decision had been made, the 2015 World Champion said that he was nowhere near happy with it and Iannone's punishment should have been much harsher. However, the decision is final and Iannone starts last on the grid.
We remind you that this is the first time when the Assen TT race is held on a Sunday.
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