Misano’s restart still hasn’t blown over because of what happened to Dani Pedrosa on the starting grid at the Italian GP and all the consequences it had on the fight for the championship title, because the Repsol Honda rider went from a -13 points to -38 points in the standings in one swoop, when he was taken out by Hector Barbera on the first lap after he was penalized with a back to the grid start.
Everyone knows that the restart was due to Karel Abraham having a clutch problems and properly signaling it with his raised arm that prompted a dozen or so yellow flags from the pitlane being waved and the lights flashing that halted the start. Everyone rushed back onto the grid with tire warmers, generators, even the brolly girls followed the routine, to prepare for the re-start procedures, waiting for the Race Direction’s new orders.
The FIM who makes the rules and regulations along with the governing bodies of MotoGP racing, in this particular case has decided to criticize the Misano Race Direction (who also happens to include representatives from FIM, IRTA and Dorna).
FIM president Vito Ippolito in an interview in this week’s edition of Italy’s Motosprint magazine,said, “We had already seen all sort of things: once a race director even hit the starting lights because he leaned on the button with his elbow, but we have never seen something like this. It’s never happened that a race had to be stopped when the start was about to be given. At this point everyone was taken by surprise and the biggest mistake was made, the grid was re-opened and the starting procedure was begun again and all the personnel rushed back to the riders, instead, only the mechanics with the starters were supposed to be allowed to enter and then the start given. At that point, the message board with one minute to the start would have been understood by everyone immediately, and the problem with the tire warmers would never have happened.”
