The Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) has also decided to withdraw the racing license of Moto2 racer Romano Fenati following their meeting.
The Italian rider faced further setback with the FIM deciding to take away his racing license for the year 2018 after his bad conduct in the Misano Moto2 race where he nearly caused a major incident for rival Stefano Manzi.
The FIM reviewed the incident again and heard Fenati’s side to come at a conclusion that the Italian did something which not only could hurt his reputation but also the sport as a whole, thereby deciding to withdraw his license for 2018.
Fenati can re-apply for the license again in 2019 – provided he fulfills all the criteria under the FIM regulations. This decision comes after the Italian already has his license from the Fedrazione Motociclistica Italiana (FMI) withdrawn.
Full statement from the FIM:
“Moto2 rider Romano Fenati attended a meeting at the FIM Headquarters in Mies on Tuesday 18 September following an incident in Misano during the Moto2 race on Sunday 9 September 2018.
“Mr Fenati, accompanied by his legal representative, was received by FIM President Vito Ippolito and FIM Deputy CEO and Legal Director Mr Richard Perret. Mr Fenati was asked to explain in person his act on the track in Misano, which has given rise to many extreme reactions in the traditional media and on social media platforms.
“During the meeting, the FIM representatives emphasised the Federation’s deep concern for the safety of all riders and other participants in motorcycling competitions. They also highlighted the importance it attaches to fair play in motorcycling sport.
“While acknowledging that riders, and in particular those who reach the highest level of the sport, are subject to many pressures both on and off the track, they reminded Mr Fenati of the profound influence high-level athletes can have on fans and young people and urged him to be mindful of his responsibility to set a positive example in future.
“Following the discussion with the rider and his representative, the FIM decided to withdraw Mr. Fenati’s FIM licence until the end of the current calendar year. A new FIM licence for the 2019 season may be granted to him subject to the conditions laid down in the FIM Regulations.”
In anycase, the chances for Fenati to race in 2018 or even 2019 were limited after both Marinelli Snipers Team and MV Agusta Reparto Corse Forward Racing Team terminated their respective contracts with the rider.
The debate for and against Fenati continued on in the MotoGP paddock during the Aragon GP weekend with LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow sticking to what he said at Misano that Fenati should never be allowed to race again.
“No, I didn’t change my mind – even though he pulled what in English we call the sob story,” said Crutchlow. “It’s like he apologised and now everybody has to feel sorry for him. I don’t believe it and he has done many strange things.
“Sure, I’m no angel on the track and some other riders [are] no angel [as well], but this to me was the limit. So I didn’t change my mind at all.” Most of the other riders felt Fenati has been treated very harshly by the media.
They agree that he did wrong but the repercussions is severe especially from the media. “For me, the action was hard, it was enough to have a strong penalty,” said Honda’s Marc Marquez. “[But] what I believe is that two races [ban] was not enough, but strong penalty.
“But what I’m not agreed is what [it] created in the media. It was on the news in Spain and speaking about him every day – too much. In the past, not many years ago, this already happened.
“[Yes], it was another time, but also two or three years ago something happened like this with different riders; five years ago a different thing happened, but also one rider crashed and the other stayed on the track.
“It must be a penalty, but it was too much for him because it looked one time like he kicked somebody, and of course it was a strong move, but it was not like this.” His rival Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso agreed as well.
“I agree with Marc, because he needs a strong penalty, also because he did already something in the past and this is really bad,” he said. “If you already make something bad in the past and maybe the penalty wasn’t big enough and he didn’t understand.
“He did something bad in Misano – so the penalty had to be strong. But like Marc situation, the media spoke too much about that and they went in the wrong way because they spoke about stupid things, not about racing.
“This also created a really bad situation. I don’t [like] this situation and I don’t like the way the media managed that.”