Moto3: Hanika punished with pit lane start

Red Bull KTM Moto3 rider Karel Hanika will start the French Grand Prix from pit lane after receiving an unprecedented 5 penalty points from Race Direction.

According to the Aspar Mahindra team, Juanfran Guevara 'was hit from behind by an angry Hanika' on the slow down lap after Sunday's Jerez race, leaving the Spaniard with a fractured right collarbone for which he will require surgery.

"The truth is that I don't understand exactly what happened, nor the reaction of Karel Hanika, after today's race," said Guevara. "On the last lap, at the Nieto and Peluqui section, I overtook two riders - one of them Hanika. When I was passing him, we brushed into one another without any consequences.

"After we had finished the race, at the end of the straight when I had slowed down, suddenly I noticed that someone was knocking into me along my footrest. Then I saw it was him and could not quite understand his reaction. Hopefully Race Direction will clarify what happened."

According to Aspar, Race Direction subsequently sanctioned Hanika with five penalty points. That means Hanika now has a total of seven penalty points to his name, meaning he will become the first rider to start from pit lane.