Official: Yamaha penalised Constructors', Teams' points
But the big news is that the Riders' World Championship is unchanged, meaning Fabio Quartararo (Petronas) remains 14-points behind Suzuki's Joan Mir, Maverick Vinales (Monster) 19-points adrift and Franco Morbidelli (Petronas) 25-points down heading into the final three rounds, starting at Vale
But the big news is that the Riders' World Championship is unchanged, meaning Fabio Quartararo (Petronas) remains 14-points behind Suzuki's Joan Mir, Maverick Vinales (Monster) 19-points adrift and Franco Morbidelli (Petronas) 25-points down heading into the final three rounds, starting at Valencia this weekend.
Yamaha is rumoured to have breached the engine homologation rules at Jerez 1, by using valves that did not match the sample/specification provided before the start of the season.
The FIM Stewards statement said only that: "Due to an internal oversight, Yamaha Motor Company failed to respect the protocol which requires them to obtain unanimous approval from MSMA for technical changes."
While the event(s) where the 'oversight' was made is also not mentioned, the amount of points deducted from Yamaha and Monster Yamaha matches round 1 at Jerez.
However, the Petronas Yamaha sanction of 37 points is 1 more than the team scored in the first race, when Quartararo took his debut MotoGP victory and Morbidelli finished fifth.
That suggests Morbidelli also lost the 1 point he scored in the first Austrian weekend (when he used an engine from Jerez 1 in practice and qualifying but not the race).
It is not clear if any of Yamaha's Jerez 1 engines can be used again for the remainder of the season since changing the valves would require permission from their rivals, something that was previously abandoned due to the documentation required.
Vinales has said he's now "running out of engines" and forced to limit his practice laps, costing him valuable set-up time.
The penalties mean Yamaha has lost the Constructors' championship lead to Ducati by 13 points, while Petronas Yamaha drops from 7 points behind Suzuki Ecstar to 44 points in the Teams' standings.
However, both titles are of little significance compared to the Riders' championship, and Honda's (injured) reigning world champion Marc Marquez made his feelings clear, tweeting: "Now it turns out that the riders do not benefit from the mechanical advantages".
Ahora resulta que los pilotos no nos beneficiamos de las ventajas mecnicas Tela marinera
— Marc Mrquez (@marcmarquez93) November 5, 2020
FIM MotoGP Stewards Notifications of Sanction: Yamaha Motor Company, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Petronas Yamaha SRT
Thursday, 05 November 2020
Due to an internal oversight, Yamaha Motor Company failed to respect the protocol which requires them to obtain unanimous approval from MSMA for technical changes.
For this reason, Yamaha Motor Company have had 50 World Championship Constructor points withdrawn. This is double the points earned whilst not respecting the protocol required for technical changes.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP have had 20 World Championship Team points withdrawn. This is the points earned whilst not respecting the protocol.
Petronas Yamaha SRT have had 37 World Championship Team points withdrawn. This is also the points earned whilst not respecting the protocol.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
