Complaints about officiating in sport is a tale almost as old as time itself. Stewarding in MotoGP has come under an immense amount of fire over the past few years, largely for its inconsistency, which has often led to some bizarre calls.
While riders have often been outspoken on this, and crunch talks were held last year after some big flashpoints in the first part of the 2023 campaign (much of which emanating from the wake of the Marc Marquez penalty wording reversal saga), things have gotten heated again.
FEATURE: 10 things we learned from the 2024 MotoGP French GP
At the Spanish Grand Prix, Johann Zarco regaled to the media how he launched into a tirade against chief FIM steward Freddie Spencer (who is also twice a 500cc world champion) and the fact he felt the American was incompetent in his role. This was sparked by the way his hearing over an incident with Aleix Espargaro was handled following the grand prix, though from the latter’s report this led onto Zarco laying into Spencer on numerous problems.
Zarco rowed back on this at the French GP, saying his conduct was unprofessional and that he held a positive meeting with the stewards to discuss many topics to better MotoGP officiating.
After the French GP, following a run-in with Enea Bastianini that forced him off track on lap 12 of 27 and a similar one with Franco Morbidelli on the final tour, Espargaro took aim at the stewards.
“[With] Enea I had to pick up the bike, it was very quick. But Franco also, If I didn’t pick up the bike I would also crash,” Espargaro said. “So the feeling is that they just put a penalty if you crash. But you have to judge and penalise the action, not the outcome, not the result.
“If I hold the line we both had a big fly, we were very fast and I saw the replay, he [Bastianini] was far when he attacked me. I didn’t really understand.
“I lost my race. I wasn’t that bad at that stage of the race. Not really to fight for the victory, for the podium, but I was good. But I lost six seconds there.”
He added: “They [the stewards] saw the images, they didn’t act. They say, ‘I would like that you come and explain’. We try. But nothing changes, I don’t mind keeping going.”
Triple MotoGP race winner Espargaro has long been a voice of reason in the MotoGP paddock, but does have a reputation for letting his emotions get the better of him and that sometimes softens his arguments. But in the interest of fairness, Autosport feels…
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