Aleix Espargaro was fined €10,000 and handed a six-place grid penalty for hitting Franco Morbidelli on the track during the Qatar MotoGP’s second free practice.
Aleix Espargaró is going to pay a high price for his actions as he will start Sunday’s race at the Qatar Grand Prix with a six-place grid penalty following his on-track altercation with Franco Morbidelli during the second practice.
After making contact as they were approaching a corner, the Aprilia rider from Spain physically hit the Monster Energy Yamaha rider, striking his helmet.
Although neither was moving at a race pace, the incident infuriated the paddock, especially the stewards who imposed a severe penalty and a hefty fine. As a result of Espargaró’s bizarre conduct, the stewards penalized him by taking away six spots from his starting grid for the race tomorrow.
Espargaro will now start from sixteenth after finishing in tenth place during the qualifying round. This means Brad Binder, Augusto Fernandez, Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio Quartararo, Enea Bastianini and Jack Miller will be moving a spot ahead on the grid for Sunday’s Qatar MotGP race.
Espargaro is allowed to start tenth in the Sprint Race, but the penalty only applies to the Sunday main Qatar MotoGP.
The incident has been correlated to that of Romano Fenati, who was barred from the grand prix paddock for the rest of the season after forcing Stefano Manzi’s bike wide during the 2017 San Marino Moto2 race.
Fenati did this by squeezing the brake lever of Manzi’s bike at racing speed prompting heavy sanctions from the stewards.
