MotoGp, VR46: Pablo Nieto won’t stand for it and lashes out

Pablo Nieto tough after sprint race in Austria

The Sprint race of the Austrian MotoGp weekend did not give even a single point to Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini: both Mooney VR46 Racing Team riders ended the race prematurely after a contact, the Rimini-born shortly after the start, Valentino Rossi’s brother halfway through the race.

“A really absurd race for us with both riders forced to retire practically immediately after the start following two contacts – commented, with great bitterness, Pablo Nieto, team manager of the VR46 team -. A real shame because both could have fought for the positions that count.”

Nieto then does not seem to have liked the decision by race management not to penalize Jorge Martin for the incident at the start: “It is difficult to understand how to behave because, at the level of the regulations and also of the stewards, some steps and behaviors are not so precise and the penalties are not always clear – he said -. We find it hard to understand the decisions made today at the finish line of the Sprint involving our riders.”

After today’s Sprint race, Marco Bezzecchi remains third in the overall standings, but sees Pecco Bagnaia move up to 59 points and Jorge Martin pull away to +13. Luca Marini, on the other hand, is seventh in the overall standings, between Aleix Espargaró and Jack Miller.