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Two Moto3 crew members have been hit with bans for deliberately making contact with a rival rider trying to exit pit lane during qualifying at the Aragon Grand Prix.
The personnel from Max Biaggi’s Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max team will not be allowed to take part in the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island nor the Malaysian Grand Prix which unfolds at Sepang on the following weekend in October, and both have also been fined EUR 2000 (AUD 2980 at AUD 1 = EUR 0.6708).
UPDATE: Biaggi vows to punish the two crew members further
Adrian Fernandez was the unfortunate rider, with footage posted to social media by his Red Bull KTM Tech3 team showing two of the Max Racing Team crew members walking into his path as he tried to exit his pit bay at a crucial time in Qualifying 2 at MotorLand Aragon.
“This is what happened in #Moto3 Q2 today,” began the Tech3 tweet.
“@31AdriFernandez was denied to leave in the good group for the QP time, by another team. Unacceptable.”
This is what happened in #Moto3 Q2 today. @31AdriFernandez was denied to leave in the good group for the QP time, by another team. Unacceptable. @MotoGP @Max_Racing_Team 👍🏻#AragonGP pic.twitter.com/BgfRAMfu2S
— Tech3 Racing (@Tech3Racing) September 17, 2022
Stewards looked into the matter and found that “two team members were observed to interfere and make contact with the bike and rider of another team in an aggressive and dangerous manner, as that rider was leaving their pit box.”
The incident was deemed a breach of Article 3.3.2.2 of championship regulations, a broad rule entitled ‘Authority and Competence’ which gives stewards powers such as penalising team personnel for “any action prejudicial to the interests of the meetings or of the sport.”
An identical apology via the official Twitter accounts of Biaggi himself and the team which he owns was made in response to Tech3’s tweet of the incident.
“Unacceptable behavior!” it read.
“We publicly apologize to the Tech3 Racing Team and Adriàn Fernàndez.
“An unsolicited, dangerous action that cannot be justified in any way by our code of ethics!
“Those responsible will be appropriately punished.”
Unacceptable behavior!
We publicly apologize to the Tech3 Racing Team and Adriàn Fernàndez.
An unsolicited, dangerous action that cannot be justified in any way by our code of ethics!
Those responsible will be appropriately punished. https://t.co/Hia5Usr3U0— Max Biaggi (@maxbiaggi) September 17, 2022
The two crew members will be allowed to work at Motegi for next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix and at Buriram when the Thailand Grand Prix takes place another week later again.
A statement from MotoGP explained, “It would not be possible to replace the team members in question for the next two races due to immigration and travel restrictions for upcoming rounds, which could potentially cause a safety concern for their rider.
“This two-race ban has therefore been deferred to apply to the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix.”
The Max Racing Team, which is the factory squad of KTM-owned Husqvarna, has won two races this year, courtesy of Ayumu Sasaki at The Netherlands’ Assen and Austria’s Red Bull Ring.
The Japanese rider is currently sixth in the championship, one position behind leading Tech3 rider Deniz Öncü, and has qualified second this weekend at Aragon.
Sasaki’s team-mate John McPhee claimed fifth on the grid, Öncü could only manage 13th after a technical problem ultimately saw him take the chequered flag before he could start a flying lap on his second run, and Fernandez qualified 15th.
It gets crazier the more you watch it 🤯
This was the moment in #Moto3 Q2 that saw 2 mechanics slapped with a 2 race ban 💥#AragonGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/NCUGDbO5al
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 17, 2022
