Raúl Fernández finished the Japanese Grand Prix with a great deal of frustration. The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team rider was penalized with a long lap due to an incorrect position of the bike during a change. The bike was not within the designated lines, which led to the penalty.
Fernández did not hide his displeasure by stating: ‘It’s not just about losing three places. It affects the hard work of a team composed of more than 50 people. It is unacceptable. We are in the best championship and the rules we have are sometimes a joke,’ he lamented, before continuing with the criticisms:
– A joke. We need to improve the damn penalties. You can kill a rider and get a warning, but if you close a line in the pitbox before yours, you get a long lap. This is a joke.
But the criticisms did not stop there: ‘Okay, if you do it for the first time and get a long lap? This is a stupid thing. I am very happy with the work we did during the weekend, fighting for the top six, but the penalty was not the most correct. We are in the *** of the MotoGP championship and sometimes we look like children. When we have more than 20 people behind us, they cannot ruin our race’.
Fernández was visibly upset with the penalty during the race and questioned: ‘We have the best championship, with all the major manufacturers. The bikes are amazing. The current influence of MotoGP is immense. And for such a trivial matter, we receive a long lap penalty?’
E acrescentou: ‘Our position was to finish in sixth. It doesn’t change from sixth to ninth. Of course, our performance is not an isolated case, and we are always up there. But this annoys me. Every action has different consequences. I apologize, but this seems surreal’.
Then followed an explanation: ‘When I entered to change bikes, there were about eighty mechanics crossing paths. The mechanics with the panels stand up earlier when a rider approaches. I was passing by and saw a stop sign being lifted instead of being kept in place. That’s why I went in that direction. Otherwise, there would have been a collision in the pit lane’.
