MotoGP will impose fines on riders who fail to meet minimum attendance requirements at promotional events, Motorsport.com understands.
MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group considers the presence of riders at championship events and promotional activities vital for the series’ image, and the repeated lack of commitment from some riders throughout the season has prompted it to introduce penalties for transgressions.
On Saturday, the teams received an email from the championship warning them that these penalties will apply with immediate effect, beginning with a minimum time requirement at the so-called ‘MotoGP Hero Walk’ at the Indonesian GP on Sunday.
This event gives fans who have paid for access the opportunity to meet riders in a designated area of the circuit, where they can take photographs and collect autographs.
This activity, which takes place every Sunday after the ‘Riders Parade’, was introduced in 2023 and, since then, the championship has noticed that riders are increasingly cutting short their presence.
The event lasts 20 minutes, from 11:20 to 11:40 in the morning, just before the Moto3 race begins. Starting today, riders who fail to remain for at least 10 minutes will be fined €5,000 – a fine that will increase in the event of repeated offences.
Promotional kart race in Japan
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Possible sporting sanctions
For the time being, the circular sent to the teams this Saturday was limited to Sunday morning events, especially the aforementioned ‘MotoGP Hero Walk’, but it could be extended to other promotional activities.
While the €5,000 fine is established as the penalty for a first offence, and will increase if it is repeated, the championship has announced that it will impose sporting sanctions, yet to be specified, if the repeated offences persist.
Although this decision comes a week after Marc Marquez sent a body double to the kart race ahead of the Japanese GP, an event which Fabio Di Giannantonio also did not attend, MotoGP has been monitoring the situation for weeks, so this situation has not arisen purely as a result of Marquez’s absence.
On Sunday in Indonesia, some riders failed to meet the established minimum of 10 minutes of attendance at the ‘MotoGP Hero Walk’, set up in the VIP Village area in the Mandalika Pit Lane. Those who did stay had photos taken and signed caps and T-shirts for fans under a blazing sun and in stifling heat, with temperatures above 30 degrees.
Riders who failed to comply are expected to be sanctioned.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
