Dorna CEO backs Simon Crafar to finally make stewarding “consistent”
Carmelo Ezpeleta has his say on the change in the stewards panel
Simon Crafar is the man to end frustrations over MotoGP stewarding, the Dorna CEO claims.
Ex-racer Crafar is currently a broadcaster on the official MotoGP coverage but, next year, will become chairman of the stewards panel.
He will replace Freddie Spencer in the job.
Stewards’ decisions have been heavily scrutinised this season.
Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta admitted that confusion over what the stewards deem to be punishable is comparable to other sports.
“Of course, in football I am also confused,” Ezpeleta told AS.
“It is clear that it is very difficult not to make mistakes, but what I will ask of the FIM at the end of the year, which is when I talk about it, because the stewarding service is provided by the FIM and the IRTA, is that the decisions be consistent.”
Ezpeleta backed Crafar to deliver that consistency.
“I hope so. His appointment is a matter of IRTA and I think he's a good guy, but I also really like Spencer,” he said.
“Spencer was one of the best riders this championship has ever had and he must understand something, which shows how difficult it is to be a [steward].”
The clash between Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin at the Emilia Romagna MotoGP was just one controversy involving the stewards.
They deemed Bastianini’s overtake not even worthy of an investigation, according to official documents.
But Crafar later revealed that the stewards did investigate but opted not to punish Bastianini.
Marc Marquez was among those who claimed Bastianini should have been penalised.
A separate incident - a pile-up caused by Jack Miller at Mandalika, deemed a racing incident - led Aleix Espargaro to question the consistency of the stewards’ decision-making.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
