The leader of the MotoGP World Championship, Marco Bezzecchi, will not be able to race this Sunday in the Czech Republic GP after his race at sprint It went from bad to worse: a fall, a heat, a violation of the regulations and a sanction with few precedents. The rider fell to the ground in the final stages of the race and from there the story became more complicated: when the track marshals were trying to lift and remove his motorcycle, already in the gravel of the escape area, the man from Rimini appeared, furious, who first gave a push to the marshal who was trying to pick up the machine, then gave him a light slap and, after a few seconds, repeated the exchange with a little more fury.
The image could not be seen through the international television production at first, but the repetition spread like wildfire after the test was completed. A few hours later, after analyzing the situation and speaking with everyone involved, the FIM panel of stewards led by former rider Simon Crafar for the grand prix in Brno for “pushing and hitting a circuit marshal who was trying to recover his motorcycle.”
The Aprilia Italian had fallen two laps from the end in a race with several accidents, and his crash allowed all his great rivals in the championship to once again take another good bite out of what not too long ago was a comfortable and solid lead. The exceptional sanction came for violating article 3.3.2.2 of the World Cup regulations, which establishes that “any corrupt or fraudulent act, or action detrimental to the interests of the sport, carried out by a person or group of people during an event” may be penalized as the championship judges deem.
Bezzecchi and Aprilia, after learning of the sanction, had the right to appeal within one hour of the notification of the sanction after depositing a deposit of 1,320 euros. At the closing of these lines and with that deadline exhausted, there was no additional notification or statement from the pilot or his team.
The 27-year-old from Rimini, leader of a Noale factory that has called into question Ducati’s absolute dominance in MotoGP at this start of the year, has accumulated nine of his ten falls so far this year on Saturdays, his great cross in a year where he has won more than anyone else on Sundays (four victories and six podiums in eight events). Right now, he leads the competition after accumulating 180 points out of a possible 308.
He rose this Saturday from tenth to fifth place and was 15 points away, while Fabio Di Giannantonio was fourth and is close to 36 points, less than a perfect competition weekend away, in third position. The absence of Bezzecchi in this Sunday’s race will give Martín from Madrid the chance to take the lead if he manages to get on the podium, a difficult challenge since he starts from ninth place and will have to serve a double long lap penalty for having thrown out five other drivers in the previous Hungarian GP.
On the other hand, the current champion Marc Márquez, who has started the year delayed due to recurring discomfort in his right arm and is currently fifth in the World Cup table, will have a golden opportunity to continue closing a gap that reached more than 100 points after his last shoulder operation. Right now, the distance stands at 65 after Bezzecchi did not score points in the last event of the calendar in Balaton Park and having cut 46 points in the table in a weekend and a half.
He poleman Ai Ogura, from Trackhouse Aprilia, and the Italian Pecco Bagnaia, great winner of the ‘sprint’ this Saturday, will be the rivals to beat this Sunday.
