The 2024 Catalonia Grand Prix last Sunday wrote numerous stories: Francesco Bagnaia’s revenge in turn five, for example. Marc Marquez’s repeated podium comeback from 14th place on the grid, Pedro Acosta’s fall on course for the podium or Raul Fernandez’s best performance in the premier class to date. But none of these stories still preoccupy MotoGP four days later like that of Ducati rider Enea Bastianini, who initiated the next round in the eternal drama ‘MotoGP riders vs. stewards’.
Bastianini had received a long lap penalty in the main race in Barcelona after he took a shortcut in turn two and then did not lose enough time. But he never took the penalty, which is why he was given a double long lap penalty and then a drive-through penalty. Since he had not served these two penalties either, he was given a 32-second time penalty after crossing the finish line, which meant the Italian dropped from 9th to 18th place. The MotoGP world then wondered what was going on. A broken dashboard? Not at all! Bastianini had received the notification of the penalties, but deliberately decided to ignore them.
Enea Bastianini angry at MotoGP stewards: Unjustly punished!
The decisive factor for his shortcut in turn two was contact with Alex Marquez, the Gresini driver had sent him wide. “I had no chance of getting through the chicane. I even lost time, more than a second, because I drove over the long lap track. I actually expected Alex to give the position back to me,” Bastianini said angrily at the time, explaining: “Of course I saw the message. But I decided to ignore it and just carry on. I know it’s not the nicest thing to do, but we have to do something. Nothing else will change.”
What caused further frustration was that the stewards, including former 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer, even showed understanding after the race. “At first they didn’t want to believe it, but then they saw it and agreed with me that the decision was wrong,” Bastianini announced. But that didn’t help him, because according to MotoGP regulations, penalties such as long-lap penalties cannot be appealed retrospectively. So his 18th place in the Catalonia Grand Prix remained despite all the efforts of the Ducati rider and his team.
Bastianini and Di Giannantonio: Communication during the race!
The big question, of course, is: What needs to be done to make improvements? Starting number 23 has a suggestion: “I think that they [die Stewards, Anm.] need to evaluate such situations better – also together with the teams. They need to have a chance to talk to each other during the race, not after the race. Then they have already handed out the penalties and there is nothing you can do. We tried to get my 32 seconds back, but the rules didn’t allow it.”
So direct communication between teams and stewards is the solution to the drama? Fabio Di Giannantonio certainly likes the idea. The VR46 driver was recently the victim of such a long lap penalty in Le Mans after he had shortened the Dunlop chicane in the first sector and had actually lost enough time from a personal point of view: “At the moment, there is nothing you can do if you get a penalty. So in the future it would be nice if the teams or maybe even the drivers could speak quickly with the stewards to make the situation more understandable. That would make it much fairer for everyone involved.”
Now it’s up to you: What do you think of this idea? Could the steward drama be offered unity in this way? Tell us your opinion in the comments!