The Spanish rider Joan Mir (Honda) was sanctioned by the sports stewards of the MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix for “irresponsible driving” during the sprint race this Saturday, won by the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), the organization reported.
Mir was involved in a collision with the Frenchman Fábio Quartararo (Yamaha), in the second of the 12 laps of the race held at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (AIA), in which Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia) finished seventh.
As a consequence of the incident, Mir retired due to a crash, while Quartararo irretrievably fell behind, finishing in 10th position, 5.924 seconds behind the winner.
The stewards considered that Joan Mir was “too ambitious” with the attempt to overtake Quartararo, which “had a strong impact on his career”, penalizing him with a ‘long lap penalty’, a step for a longer lap.
Honda and Mir appealed the decision of the sports commissioners, who considered the appeal “unfounded” for “simply saying that the pilot does not agree with the sanction.”
The decision thus becomes effective and will be fulfilled in Sunday’s race of the MotoGP Portuguese GP, the first race of the season in the World Speed Championship.
Source: TSF
