Enea Bastianini has labelled the last-lap penalty he received for a track limits infringement in the Japanese GP sprint as “unfair”, claiming he did not gain any time.
Tech3 rider Bastianini was running in third place ahead of LCR Honda’s Diogo Moreira when Jorge Martin suddenly fell into his clutches due to heavy tyre degradation.
As they began battling for place on the final lap, both ran wide exiting Turn 10 and heading on to the long back straight, touching the painted green area on the edge of the white line.
While riders are normally allowed to exceed track limits three times in a sprint before they are penalised, any infraction on the final lap results in an automatic drop of one position.
As such, while Martin and Bastianini crossed the second line in second and third respectively, both lost a place each in the final classification, with Moreira promoted to second behind race winner Marc Marquez.
The late infraction was particularly costly for Bastianini, who missed out on a chance to stand on the sprint podium after a solid performance from seventh on the grid.
Speaking afterwards, the Italian said he didn’t gain any time by running wide at Turn 10, arguing that he actually lost touch with Martin as they accelerated out of the corner.
“In the end, I didn’t attack Martín to avoid pushing too hard, and if I had attacked him, I would surely be on the podium now,” he said.
“I made a small mistake that I wasn’t even sure I had made.
“With these rules, it’s clear I touched the green. With MotoGP bikes, you take the corner a bit wider, and that could be taken into account, but the rules are what they are.
“I think it’s a bit unfair because I didn’t gain any advantage . When I got to the corner, I positioned myself behind Jorge to try and get his slipstream, but he got away from me.”
Martin’s race was compromised by severe tyre degradation, with the Aprilia rider saying his rear tyre was completely ‘destroyed” in the closing stages of the race.
This late drop-off in pace saw the Spaniard go from running a second behind race leader Marquez to trying to do everything to hang on to second.
While Bastianini saw the penalty as unfair, championship leader Martin accepted his mistake, but he admitted he was angry with himself as he gave away two additional points to title rival Marquez.
“It’s a shame. I’m a bit angry with myself for touching the green, because in the end it was a free position, which was mine. It was a big mistake. But I was so focused on trying to get a good exit out of turn 10 that I had to exit at a steeper angle , and maybe that’s what caused me to touch the green. I wasn’t aware I had touched the green, but I saw it later.”
Martin and Bastianini were followed in the closing stages of the race by Moreira, who saw the pair running wide at Turn 10 and immediately backed out of the battle, knowing the podium was secure.
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