Carmelo Ezpeleta finally spoke on the petrifying affair of the red flag not waved in Australia, at the moment of a Moto2 race where Jorge Navarro, after a fall, found himself on the side of the track, conscious, screaming in pain with a leg broken into two pieces. It will be recalled that the drivers continued their competition despite the fact that their colleague was unable to leave his dangerous position, with marshals as guardians who were also risking their lives. The race was never interrupted and the Spaniard was thus evacuated. Despite the striking images, the race management justified its non-decision to raise the red flag, which only fueled anger and incomprehension. In Malaysia, many days later, the boss of Dorna took control of this matter to recognize an inappropriate decision by his race director Mike Webb. He was disowned in front of Marc Marquez who seemed to be very alone among his colleagues so that these events would not be forgotten…
Marc Marquez had said he would take this matter to the Australian Safety Commission, and he kept his word whileAlex Rins who was present to regret that during this meeting, he had counted seven other pilots at most. Which is of some concern... On this occasion, the Race Direction maintained that its decision to do without the red flag to evacuate Jorge Navarro seriously injured was justified. However, the images revealed that the motorcycles were passing at more than 150 km/h and only a few meters from Jorge Navarro and those who provided assistance.
Carmelo Ezpeleta: “ the evacuation lasted more than two turns, which is not acceptable, we all know that«
End of the story ? Not really ? Because Mike webb was disavowed by Carmelo Ezpeleta : " the drivers are right, the race should have been stopped with the red flag » we read from the boss of Dorna on Todocircuito. « The race continued due to a series of unfortunate and extraordinary circumstances.” He recounts point by point what happened. : “in the event of a medical intervention, I communicate directly with the head doctor, who in turn is in direct contact with the respective doctor on the track. I received the following information: “pilot informed, he is being treated, we are taking him with us ».
He specifies that this “ procedure usually lasts one to one and a half turns ", but that, in the case of Jorge Navarro, " Since it was on the inside of the curve, where falls rarely occur, there were few flaggers available. So the evacuation lasted more than two turns, which is not acceptable, we all know that “, he explains before concluding: “ Marc Marquez came before the Safety Commission meeting and asked me about the incident. I described the incidents to him as Mike Webb presented them. I admitted it should have shown a red flag ". We can only thank and congratulate Marc Marquez for his involvement.
