The penalty that was imposed on Cal Crutchlow during the Argentine Grand Prix is considered by many to be both fair and excessive, since the LCR Honda driver gained no advantage from his voluntary false start before being punished by a Ride Through costing him 35 seconds.
The subject will be raised this evening in the Safety Commission, in the presence of a Cal Crutchlow very upset against the FIM Stewards Jury led by Freddie spencer, to see if greater latitude could be granted to the sanction in the future…
The opinions of Andrea Dovizioso, Marc Marquez et Valentino Rossi were requested during the conference ahead of the Grand Prix of the Americas.
What is your opinion on the penalty that was given to Cal Crutchlow in Argentina? Are you going to talk to the Safety Commission about this tomorrow?
Andrea Dovizioso : “The Safety Commission will definitely be fun tomorrow (laughs) and it will be important to talk about that. The rule is clear and I don't think Cal gained any advantage with what he did. But he moved a little when the race started. So I think we can talk about that, and we should, to try to understand if there's another way to handle these situations. I mean… It was clear that Cal didn't gain anything from this and he didn't do this on purpose. But the rule says that if you move, you make a mistake. I think it would be very difficult to accept that if I were Cal and I can understand how angry he is, but of course we have to talk about it in the Safety Commission, because if you have to interpret every start it becomes difficult. That's why they decided to have this rule, but it's not good to lose a race because of that. Really not good, especially if your pace is good.”
Marc Márquez : “I completely agree with Andrea. I mean... Of course Cal didn't win anything but the rule says that if you move the bike, even in the opposite direction, you will be punished. So this is the best way to have a clear rule, because otherwise it will always be “yes, but he didn't win anything”. For me, it's hard to take a Ride Through because of that and lose a race, but it's the best way to have a single rule and avoid controversies.
Valentino Rossi : “For me, the only way to have a clear rule is to say “you cannot move before the start”. Because if you start talking about having won something, or how much you can move, it becomes very difficult. I saw the camera footage of Cal's wheel and I've never seen that before. Maybe it existed before, but for sure it is very precise. Cal didn't win anything, but if you look at this camera, you see he's moving a little bit. Tomorrow after racing we can talk about the penalty, because after the race Cal said that going through the pitlane costs you 35 seconds. So it's over. Maybe you could do the Long Lap. I don't know, but the rule is you can't move. So that’s how it is.”
