During the race last Sunday in Le Mans, Aprilia rider Espargaro had some trouble with other riders. First, Enea Bastianini got too close and Espargaro had to go off the track to avoid him. Then, at the end of the race, Franco Morbidelli bumped into Espargaro, making him lose a place.
Even though these incidents happened, no one got any penalties. Bastianini had to take a longer route because he cut a corner while passing Espargaro. After the race, Espargaro was confused as to why the stewards didn’t do more about these incidents.
He said, “The pace was good enough to finish in the top five but Enea hit me at very, very high speed. Luckily it was the run-off area. I don’t understand why he didn’t get the penalty for the action and then I lost a lot of time behind Diggia [Fabio Di Giannantonio], behind [Fabio] Quartararo. I overtook them a couple of times but they overtook me again.”
Espargaro explained that there was no actual contact between him and Bastianini, but he had to avoid him to prevent a crash. He feels like the stewards only look at what happens after an incident, not the incident itself, when deciding on penalties.
He 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.”
Espargaro believes talking to race control won’t change anything. He said, “Nothing will change, so, no. I’m relaxed, I don’t care. They 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 to keep going.”
Morbidelli, who had a run-in with Espargaro, said it was just a normal overtaking move and they didn’t even touch. He joked about the situation, saying, “If my mother had balls, she would be my father.”
