Moto3: Salom penalised for Motegi clash

By Lisa Lewis

RW Racing's Luis Salom has been handed a five place grid penalty for this weekend's Malaysian Moto3 Grand Prix, for his part in the manic last lap action at Motegi.

Winner of two grands prix this season, Salom was keen to add to his tally but a rash manoeuvre in trying to move from fourth to first also took out race leader Jonas Folger, the Aspar man visibly angry with the Spaniard when the two met in the gravel.

It was soon announced that the move would be investigated, although the incident was somewhat overshadowed by the events that unfolded over the rest of the lap, with Sandro Cortese's accident and outbusts grabbing the most attention.

Kalex-KTM rider Salom confirmed the penalty decision on his official website, where he also placed the following statement:

"It's a shame and I feel so bad for Jonas Folger, but it was not on purpose. I was fighting for victory and made a mistake. It was a racing incident. I'm back to third in the championship standings. That's the worst. "

Team manager Johan Stigefelt looked for positives among the bad news:

"This is a very bad result for the team, but we have to keep our heads high. Aside from the race we had a good weekend and we have to regain that spirit for Malaysia, the next race. Luckily Luis is not hurt, because we have three races in a row with little time to recover."

Salom is leaving RW Racing at the end of the season to join Red Bull KTM Ajo. RW Racing will be running Czech rider Jakub Kornfeil next year.