Apparently there have been some nasty insinuations, in some obscure and convoluted way, that what happened to Dani Pedrosa during the Misano GP was somehow Karel Abraham and his team Cardion AB’s fault, and this has irked the Czech team enough to have felt it was necessary to issue a statement to explain what happened to Abraham’s Ducati on the starting grid (they had already did it with the post-race press release.
) A rapid look at the rule book to check out section 1.
18 should also clear up any doubts on how the starting procedures work and should also clarify why Pedrosa was given start at the back of the grid penalty in the first place and then everyone knows what happened on the first lap.
The Spaniard’s disappointment is more than completely understandable, he was tipped to win the race and cut Lorenzo’s point lead even further, but the ‘total chaos’ on the grid before the re-start was a problem that only his team suffered.
When the Repsol Honda mechanic began removing the front tire warmer (rewatching the footage you can see in the background the other teams also begin removing theirs) they probably went into some sort of panic when it jammed, which forced them to drag the bike off the grid to the pitlane in order for the warmer to be freed.
How anything that happened after the restart can be placed on Cardion AB’s shoulders is really incomprehensible.
Here’s their press release:We would like to clarify the speculations that have been spreading with regard to an unusual situation which occurred before the start of the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday, 16 September, and which affect the reputation of the Cardion AB Motoracing team.
The start of the MotoGP class was postponed due to technical difficulties experienced by our rider Karel Abraham with his Ducati Desmosedici GP12 motorcycle.
They were attributed to a faulty clutch piston seal and the resulting hydraulic fluid leak.
It was a defect of a brand new part which had been preventively replaced on Saturday evening, as the same problem had occurred with our spare bike.
Unfortunately, the defect occurred during the sighting lap after the level of the fluid had dropped below the critical level and the clutch became inoperative.
Consequently, our rider’s engine stalled after he had shifted into first gear before the start into the warm-up lap.
Having been given a push by marshals, he made the warm-up lap during which the defect was not apparent.
It occurred again when he shifted into first gear and the engine stalled again.
Pursuant to the applicable MotoGP rules, Karel raised his hand to notify the race direction and the starting procedure was halted right before the start.
Karel could in no way detect the cause of the defect during the sighting lap and the warm-up lap.
Nor could he avoid or defer it.
Similarly, Cardion AB Motoracing mechanics could not have expected having to deal during one weekend with two identical malfunctioning parts delivered by Ducati Corse.
We regret the fact that the HRC team had technical difficulties with Dani Pedrosa’s bike as a result of the restart.
However, there is no direct correlation between our team’s difficulties with the Ducati motorcycle and this unpleasant situation which resulted in the loss of the pole position and the subsequent collision between Dani Pedrosa and Hector Barbera.
Hence, the Cardion AB Motoracing team bears no factual or moral responsibility for the incident.
Our team dealt with the situation in full compliance with MotoGP regulations.
It is not our fault that the new situation resulted in chaos and the unintentional breach of the applicable regulations by HRC.
Our team and our mechanics did their best to prepare the bike for the race.
By coincidence, we had technical difficulties with two identical parts during one weekend; it would be misleading to blame Karel Abraham, as the rider, or Cardion AB Motoracing mechanics.
Our team too lost the chance to collect world championship points in Misano due to these technical problems, since we had to use a spare bike and start from the pit lane.
In addition, due to a malfunctioning rear brake, hydraulic brake fluid leaked onto the rear wheel, causing Karel to fall.
We wish Dani Pedrosa the best in the upcoming races and we hope that from now on the battle for the title will continue on the track without so many technical aspects.