“The decision has been made and we can’t go back”, these the words the Race Direction said to Riccardo Rossi on Sunday morning, just half an hour before the start. In my opinion it is inconceivable, their behavior was unjustifiable, there are no words to describe it.
By now the VAR system is also used in football to fix human mistakes, that in any case are admissible. I can’t understand what is the problem in admitting a mistake and rephrasing a new pronouncement. I’m really furious with them, this situation must be fixed, we are not the only team which is complaining. And I hope that Jorge Viegas, the International President of Motorcycling, will resolutely intervene against this incompetence and will put an end to it.
As I see it, this press release could have ended here, with all my instinctive anger enclosed in few lines, but it would be unfair to those that, on the contrary, made my weekend better.
As you probably have seen on TV, or realized now, Rossi was cautioned without a real fault. “He was swaying on the straight” they said, even though from the slow-motion footage, he was not swaying.
He started the race in 7th position and this make me freak out, he was warned for a long lap in the middle of the first lap, very soon! When everything was still to play. If this is not a cowardice…at the end of the second lap he was almost at the end of the group.
Anyway, he was great, he did not lose heart but, led by his pride he started an aggressive recovery… unfortunately, when he was in the 8th position, after all the risks taken, he slipped and fell to the ground.
I’m a bit conflicted, on one hand I’m out of mind cause of the unfair behavior of the Race Direction, on the other hand I’m happy for the Riki’s good performance. He demonstrated to be matured, he demonstrated to be there.
Maybe too excited from the last race, on Friday Fellon had a crash during the free practices and his shoulder came out. He was caught up in a rush, he had all the time, I would say it was not needed. Then he was declared unfit and he could not take part in the race. I don’t know what to say.
But let’s move to the first MotoE Race of the year, that after six months of stop, took place here in Jerez. Zannoni is our new entry. It is his first year with us, we still do not know each other so well, for this reason he did not qualify in Q1 by a whisker (less than a tenth of a second). When you are not in a good position in the starting grid all is much more complicated. In Race2 he took a huge risk cause of a mistake that was not his fault. The motorcycle did not leave the starting box, like it did not hear the “Start”, the starting whistle, he risked to be blown over by the riders behind him.
Luckily, he was promptly dodged and he made a good performance by finishing in the 13th place.
A complicated weekend, that leaves me with a mix of conflicting feelings. I want to be confident for Le Mans, I hope in the return of Fellon and in a gritty Rossi, that will have to fight for the first positions. Provided that the Race Direction won’t have to make other …weird objections.
-PaoloSic58-