Yannik Grafmüller
Motorcycle Department
Yannik is one of those rare breed who are equally adept on two and four wheels. At MSM, however, his love is entirely for MotoGP.MORE
Almost four hours after the finish in the sprint, the MotoGP stewards around former 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer announced a penalty against the ‘Martinator’ – not for an incident in the sprint, but for something that had already happened in qualifying and thus more than seven hours earlier.
Raul Fernandez blocked: Jorge Martin has to move back three places
More specifically, the stewards claim to have noticed that Martin blocked Raul Fernandez on a fast lap in turns two and three during the hectic final phase of Q2, which was characterized by slipstreaming, and stood in his way. This scene could only be guessed at in the TV images, as the cameras at that time were aimed at Marc Marquez and co., who had taken their foot off the gas a few meters ahead of Martin and aborted their flying laps.
While these pilots apparently got away without penalties, Martin was given a three-place grid penalty for the Dutch TT on Sunday. The Pramac pilot will therefore not start the main race in the Netherlands from second place, but only from fifth place on the second row. Maverick Vinales, Alex Marquez and Aleix Espargaro each move up one position.
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