When we titled our last article on JuniorGP “ A handful of names begin to repeat themselves insistently...", we were of course referring to Lukas Tulovic, winner of the three races in the European Moto2 championship so far, but above all to Joel Esteban, the Barcelona hopeful who crossed the finish line in first position in the 'European Talent Cup on 4 occasions, but which was disqualified during the last round in Valencia.
Aged 17, the boy has now been participating in different championships in Spain for 10 years, but, according to the opinion of the paddock, it is this year that he really explodes (8th in 2020) by completely dominating a category where all the machines, Honda 250 Moto3 Stock, are strictly identical. Or almost, since at the end of the last race on the Ricardo Tormo circuit, the technical inspection revealed that a shock absorber ball joint was not considered original since it had 7 millimeters of extra thread.
Strict application of the regulations and downgrading on the part of the organizers, dispute on the form and substance on the part of the Aspar team which notes, with supporting documents, all the inconsistencies of the procedure and declares to have taken this regrettable matter to court .
Here is our translation of the argument of Jorge Martinez “Aspar” team.
Aspar Team Junior won both races of the European Talent Cup in Valencia with Joel Esteban. After the second race, the scrutineers detected a component in the rear shock absorber of the #78 bike that they considered "non-original" because it was "7 millimeters longer" than it should be .
The technical commission checked Joel Esteban's bike after all the official testing sessions and all the races of the season, as required by the regulations, because he was always in the top three of the category, both in the two Estoril races as well as during the two races held on the Ricardo Tormo circuit. None of the first seven checks revealed anything abnormal on the bike..
This part considered “non-original” by the technical commission comes from a original Showa shock absorber, just like the part that the technical commission considers original. The two parts differ only in their length. The part mounted on the rear shock absorber of Joel Esteban in this second race in Valencia respects the rest of the dimensions and shapes compared to that considered original by the technical commission. In the catalog of Honda, the manufacturer of the motorcycles, the dimensions are not specified. The teams cannot therefore know the exact dimensions of this part, because they do not appear in the regulations or in this catalog.
The height of the rear shock absorber of Joel Esteban's motorcycle during the second race in Valencia respected at all times the limits set in section e) of article 5.6.9.4 of the regulations of the Hawkers European Talent Cup. This dimension, respected by the team, is what defines the performance of the rear shock absorber and therefore of the motorcycle. The difference in length of this particular part, considered by the technical report as "7 millimeters longer than the original", does not bring any advantage in terms of performance of the rear shock absorber and therefore in terms of performance of the motorcycle, since the dimension of the rear shock absorber had been respected in accordance with the regulations. This difference of 7 millimeters corresponds to 7 millimeters of additional thread on the part which attaches the shock absorber to the chassis.
The sanction specifies that the team does not respect article 5.6.9.4 in points a, b and e. Point e indicates that the overall length of the shock absorber must be kept within the limits recommended by the motorcycle manufacturer. The sanction does not, however, specify whether, in this case, there was a difference in this measure.
Aspar Team Junior was not given the opportunity to appeal the penalty, with race direction stating that 65 minutes had already passed since the penalty was imposed (the limit is 60 minutes). The team had no way of verifying that 65 minutes had actually passed because the notification they received did not specify the time the penalty was given (attachment). The time at which the penalty would have been notified only appears on the sheet kept in the file by the commissioners, who only showed it to the team at the time of the latter's appeal. Only then did the team discover that they had gone five minutes over the allotted time (attached).
In addition, the technical report defining the sanction bears a date different from that of the day on which the technical inspection of the motorcycle was carried out. The report is dated May 21, at 17:00 p.m., while the second race of the Hawkers European Talent Cup took place on May 22, at 15:00 p.m. (page 2 of the attached document).
Due to these inconsistencies, the team has initiated legal action to defend its interests and image and to clarify these irregularities in the technical verification process of the motorcycle.
Attachments :
1 – Measurement respected with the “non-original” part.
2 – Measurement respected with the “non-original” part.
3 – Difference between pieces
4 - Appeal that the team wished to file
5 - Sanction with technical report
6 - Penalty received by the team without the allotted time
