The controversial overtaking maneuver by Enea Bastianini (Ducati) on Jorge Martín (Prima Pramc/Ducati) in the last lap of the MotoGP Emilia Romagna GP did not result in any penalty. The Italian was aggressive and forced his rival wide, causing both riders to go off track.
Aleix Espargaró witnessed the incident and was incredulous about the stewards’ inaction: ‘I don’t understand, I’m very disappointed. I don’t understand what the stewards panel is doing. I have no words really, because one rider touched another one, both riders were out, and they didn’t even put it under investigation. So it makes no sense’.
The Spaniard from Aprilia expressed concern: ‘Apart from the action, I’m a little bit worried, because the message that they are sending to all the riders is, «you can do whatever you want, you can touch the riders, you can go out of the track». And this is a very dangerous announcement. I still can’t really believe’.
When asked if such incidents are a consequence of it being more difficult to overtake with the current bikes, Espargaró replied: ‘This is a result of the incompetence of these guys doing their job. The bikes are difficult to overtake, yes, but also in the past you could touch the other rider and go out of the track. You can do it now and you could do it 20 years ago. It’s hard to overtake, yes, but if you touch another rider and both of you go out of the track, it’s not about the bikes’.