The reunion between Ducati and KTM is likely to be heated this weekend at the Red Bull Ring. An Austrian and therefore national site for the men of Mattighofen who are coming off a resounding victory in Brno with Brad Binder. But it is also a circuit which, since it was entered into the MotoGP championship in 2016, has always seen a Ducati win in the end. The duel promises to be interesting and is exacerbated by a racing incident in the Czech Republic between Pol Espargaró, official on an RC16 and Johann Zarco, Avintia rider on a Ducati GP19 followed closely by Borgo Panigale. A clash that we still talk about in the cottages. Paolo Ciabatti, from Ducati, for example, does not lose his temper…
It was a collision which took place in the first turn of the route of Brno who received on Sunday the Czech Republic Grand Prix MotoGP. We see a Pol Espargaro veering offshore and falling back to the rope point where already camped Johann zarco. The one who was outside logically ended up on the ground. But the one who continued on his way was punished by a “long lap” otherwise so masterfully executed that it in no way tarnished a magnificent performance punctuated by the third step of the podium.
End of the story ? Nope. Pol Espargaro is still angry and points out that the Frenchman's long lap technique is not legal from his point of view. But at Ducati we are angry just as red as the fairings of its official motorcycles. The sports director Paolo ciabatti don’t beat around the bush: “ in our opinion, it was a totally wrong decision by the Race Direction » fumes the Italian. “ Pol Espargaró made a mistake. It was at the first corner after the drivers crossed the starting line. He knew from his paneling that Zarco was 0 seconds behind him. He made a mistake, in the end he went wide and Zarco came back, on his normal trajectory. If a driver goes far and then returns to his normal trajectory, he should look around because he is not alone on the track ».
“Zarco had a fantastic race and should have finished second”
Fortunately Johann zarco did not lose positions and the conquest of the podium did not disappear. Probably without penalty, he would have fought for second place on the podium. Paolo ciabatti is convinced of this and he also believes that it is Pol Espargaro who deserved the sanction. “ It's unclear where Zarco's mistake was. He was on his path, he was on the inside and he couldn't brake because he was leaning over. Espargaró is back on the line and he has arrived. From our point of view, Espargaró made the mistake and should have been punished, not Zarco, who had a fantastic race and would have finished second ».
The sporting director of Ducati Corse immediately went to speak with the representatives of the IRTA in the pit lane, who, however, are only intermediaries between the teams and the panel of FIM MotoGP Stewards led by Freddie spencer. " The IRTA only told us that this was the case and that they should show the driver the black flag if he does not take the penalty. IRTA only has one delivery company here ". Atmosphere…
MotoGP Brno J3: standings
