Yamaha Faces No Sporting Penalty for Missing Qatar MotoGP, Says FIM President Jorge Viegas

No sporting penalty for Yamaha for missing Qatar MotoGP, confirms FIM president

New Delhi, Nov 14

Yamaha withdrew both of its factory and satellite teams from the Lusail race as it stood by its policy regarding Middle East travel due to safety concerns in the region.

MotoGP put out a statement to warn the Japanese manufacturer that sporting implications can be hit. "Yamaha's non-participation also carries sporting implications," MotoGP had said.

However, the president of FIM, the MotoGP global governing body, has confirmed that sporting penalties won't be hit. "Dorna's press release, not the FIM's, was incorrect because it stated that sporting sanctions could be imposed, which is not the case," Viegas said, as quoted in the Spanish media.

"We don't have any sanctions from the FIM, and a rider who doesn't attend a race isn't subject to sporting sanctions at this time. Perhaps we will change the rules in the future, but as of today, we don't have them.

"The only existing sanction stems from the contract between Dorna and the manufacturers. Therefore, manufacturers and teams are obligated to have two riders available for each race. If they are unavailable, they must provide a substitute rider. But this is a commercial contract," he added.

Meanwhile, Yamaha still faces financial consequences due to missing the race. The manufacturer will have to pay a penalty fee to Dorna, the amount of which is not known yet.

Jack Miller had explained his fears over travelling to Qatar. "I don't want to go, like everybody," he had said, as quoted by Fox Sports. "There are 19 of us that don't want to go there; I don't think we should be racing a motorcycle in those sorts of conditions.

"We've made our opinion very clear on that, and we'll see what the decision is. As riders, we've united and done the best we can what with the ammunition we have, not only for us as riders but also for other people in the championship. If you speak to 50 per cent of the paddock, nobody wants to go," he added.

— IANS