Poor Sportsmanship Costs Moto2 Rider His Job
While MotoGP racing is thrilling enough with its high speed space,
amazing technical riding, and scary offs, sometimes it's the
tension and frustrations between riders that brings about the
wildest action. These riders are passionate about what they do and
while their sport requires instantaneous reaction times and
reflexes to avoid catastrophe, when things get heated amongst
competitors sometimes we see logic and common sense go right out
the window leading to some very scary or scrupulous
scenarios.
We've seen a lot of wild antics come from the MotoGP world, from
riders kicking and punching other riders, to riders hitting the
kill switch on a competitors bike at the start of a warm up
session-and these incidents are just from one rider, Romano Fenati.
Well, the Italian Moto2 rider let his emotions get the best of him
once again this past Sunday at the GP Octo di San Marino e della
Riviera di Rimini. This time it not only cost Fenati his ride with
Marinelli Snipers Team, but it could have cost Stefano Manzi his
life.
After jockeying for position Fenati became frustrated with Manzi
after they both briefly went off the track, upon regaining control
and getting back on track Fenati pulled alongside Manzi in a
straightaway and then grabbed his front brake. Manzi's frontend
dipped a bit and his backend wobbled which upset his riding
position. Luckily Manzi was able to regain control and
composure.
Fenati's actions drew immediate punishment from the FIM MotoGP and
he was suspended for two races. That suspension doesn't really seem
to matter much now though seeing as how today the Marinelli Snipers
Team has cut all ties with Fenati, and issued the following
statement:
"Here we are. Now we can communicate that the Marinelli Snipers
Team shall terminate the contract with the rider Romano Fenati,
from now on, for his unsporting, dangerous and damaging conduct for
the image of all. With extreme regret, we have to note that his
irresponsible act endangered the life of another rider and can't be
apologised for in any way. The rider, from this moment, will not
participate in any more races with the Marinelli Snipers team. The
team, Marinelli Cucine, Rivacold and all the other sponsors and the
people that always supported him, apologised to all the World
Championship fans."
Things got even worse for Fenati as he was slated to race for MV
Augusta in Moto2 next year however, company president, Giovanni
Castiglioni, put the kibosh on that this morning with this post on
Instagram.
Thankfully Manzi or anyone else wasn't serious injured by this
incident. In a recent statement Fenati has accepted responsibility
for his actions and showed remorse with the following
statement:
"I apologise to the whole sports world. This morning, with a clear
mind, I wish it had been just a bad dream," Fenati stated. "I think
back to those moments, I made a disgraceful gesture, I was not a
man. The criticisms are correct and I understand the resentment
towards me. I want to apologise to everyone who believed in me and
all those who felt hurt by my actions."
Here's a clip from 2015 when Fenati after hitting and kicking
Niklas Ajo, Fenati then pushed the kill switch on Ajo's bike.
