Why MotoGP's handling of Argentina sprint crashes is revealing
The MotoGP stewarding regime had two major incidents to deal with in the Argentina sprint - and dealt with them encouragingly well.
For the second weekend in a row, new MotoGP chief steward Simon Crafar has been in the spotlight, with multiple clashes during Saturday’s sprint race at the Argentine Grand Prix needing his attention.
And for the second weekend in a row, the 500cc grand prix winner has shown that he’s making a positive difference in the new job.
Having taken over from past world champion Freddie Spencer at the start of the season after five years of the American being in charge, it was always likely that we were going to see a different approach from Crafar compared to his predecessor - and the way in which he dealt with the sprint strongly suggests that it’s going to be one that punishes aggressive riding but not close racing.
Under Spencer’s stewardship, there were regular complaints from riders about the process as well as the penalties issued. Sanctions were often seen as inconsistent, and riders objected to penalties for what they saw as racing incidents even if contact was present.
Under Crafar, that called-for lenience appears to be the norm - as evidenced by his handling of the contact between Franco Morbidelli and Brad Binder.
