2023-08-06 19:24:25
The British Grand Prix race could have ended in the offices of Race Direction, or that was the intention they had at KTM. The Austrians have asked the commissioners to review an action by Pecco Bagnaia in the last lap, where the Italian supposedly touched the green, for which would have exceeded the limits of the Silverstone trackor that was the feeling that he had given to the naked eye from the international signal offered by the organization.
During the last lap, Pecco found himself overtaken by Aleix Espargaró at the entrance to turn 10, so he took the opportunity to prepare for the overtaking at the end of the Hangar straight, although in the end it could not be. At the exit of the Stowe curve, the Italian driver took advantage of the full width of the trackcoming to step a little between the green and the piano, giving the sensation of exceeding the limit of the track. This action is usually penalized by taking a position from the driver or losing three seconds, so Brad Binder would have gained a position in the race.
At KTM they did not think twice and asked the stewards to assess the situation, something that the FIM stewards would soon reject, commenting that they did not receive any kind of warning to exceed the limits at that point. In this way, the sensors were not activated at the exit of the curve, something that is decisive to know if the green has really been stepped on or not. According to the note provided by the panel of commissioners “(Pecco) did not exceed the limits of the track by not touching the green tires and the sensor has not been activated. All this has been verified by the camera.
The stewards’ decision has not gone down well with KTM, which has recognized that it is always the same with them. When asked about what happened, the director of KTM Motorsport, Pit Beirer, pointed out that “apparently we are fighting windmills here”so this decision was to be expected.
To all this, the commissioners would not be entirely sure with the decision taken, so they would be trying to check if the sensor would be well configured or not at that point in the circuit, something that could lead to the signal not reaching Race Direction properly.
What a move from Aleix Espargaro!
He’s in the lead with half a lap to go!! #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/070cPIRZhy
— MotoGP on TNT Sports (@motogpontnt) August 6, 2023
Third place was comforting for Brad Binder, who was back on the podium after receiving two penalties at the Assen circuit for exceeding the track limit. #33 has preferred to make a positive reading and has recognized that his intention was to give the team a victory in mixed conditions at the end of the raceat which time the rain made him push the bike to the limit.
For this reason, the KTM rider wanted to thank his mechanics for all the work done this weekend, where the sensations were not the best on Friday: “The end of the race was a bit scary because it kept sparking. Honestly the conditions were very difficult. I’m very happy to be on the podium. I really wanted a win for my team today because they deserved it after my two mistakes in Assen, where I lost third place on Saturday and Sunday for ignoring track limits on the last lap.”
Also read: Joan Mir: “If we don’t get updates from Honda, the next race will be the same”
“I have to be happy with third place”, said the South African at a press conference. “It was hard to understand, especially in the last four or six laps, how hard you could push in those conditions. It was so bad that I got to a point where I was thinking about going to the pits to change the bike.. But luckily I didn’t, and I think only a few riders stopped. But on the last lap it was literally raining in the last sector. The rest of the track was quite dry. Only in the first sector was it a bit wet. You had to decide exactly where you could accelerate and where not. Yeah, it seems like I always get on the podium on days like this…” he finished with a smile.
#Race #Direction #accept #KTMs #claim #Pecco #Bagnaia