Pedro Acosta gave a reminder of what he is capable of with an emphatic win with a controlled performance as he responded every time August Fernandez tried to take the title with a win leaving him a solid second as he finishes the season champion after the Moto2 finale in Valencia.

Alonso Lopez had started from pole for the first time and was the early race leader. His early fiery performance, including contact with Acosta which lead to a conduct warning, and several near misses including a save on his elbows which indicated the Beta Tools Speed Up rider and his Boscoscuro would not go race distance, and that came to be with 21 laps still to run.

That left Tony Arbolino in control out front, who immediately took advantage and a gap with a fastest race lap.

The Elf Marc VDS rider was under pressure from Ai Ogura and Acosta with Fernandez keeping safe in fourth.

 

Title decided as Ogura hits the gravel

 

With crucial DNFs and errors leading up to the final battle at Ricardo Tormo, with Augusto Fernandez picking up zero points in Australia before Ai Ogura’s sensational exit last time out in Malaysia, the swing of power meant the final round could go either way.

The title was decided while Arbolino was leading, when Ai Ogura started to challenge for the win which would have handed him the championship, coming unstuck out of turn seven on lap eight.

Under pressure from Acosta, the Japanese rider pushed into the corner and had a strange fall where the front of his Idemitsu Honda seemed to struggle and lock, sending him flying through the gravel. In a strange turn of events his team-mate Somkiat Chantra suffered a carbon copy crash later in the race, suggesting bike set up rather than rider might have been the cause.

That took the pressure of Fernandez, as the Red Bull KTM Ajo pair caught and dropped Arbolino.

The #37 tried to go for the win, but was equally happy to take his title on the podium, finishing second by 1.232s as he gave up the chase, with Acosta taking his third win of his rookie season. Fernandez changed into gold leathers to celbrate on the podium, completed with a gold helmet beside him.

Arbolino was the first to congratulate Fernandez, with Ogura clapping his rivals performance graciously from his garage.

Malaysian grand prix winner Arbolino was third but ten seconds adrift by the time the chequered flag waved.

Fermin Aldeguer went backwards at the start after sitting up Fernandez but fought back to be the only Boscoscuro finisher in fourth.

Albert Arenas progressed to fifth, around four seconds behind Aldeguer to the finish line for Inde GasGas Aspar.

He held off a late charge from Manuel Gonzalez, who finished just short of equalling his best finish with the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp team this season in sixth.

 

Jake Dixon makes huge comeback to claim seventh.

 

Fifth after free practice, Dixon’s weekend came unravelled when he felt ill at ease on hos GasGas Aspar in qualifying, which lead to him starting 15th on the grid.

As the lights went out the British rider saw his situation worsen, getting swallowed up and dropping to as low as 23rd.

Undeterred, the #96 persisted and came through, aided by several falls ahead on the way to finish seventh – with the pace to run at the front.

Jeremy Alcoba was eighth. The Liqui Moly Intact GP rider again showed his aggressive side, causing Mattia Pasini to crash (replacing Barry Baltus at Rw Racing GP) after putting a move on the Italian from way back, with contact from a a shoulder barge as he pushed his Kalex under taking the #11 out of the race.

That lead to a long lap penalty and eighth place.

Senna Agius is back to replace Sam Lowes at Marc VDS to aid his recovery for next season and he made the most of his final replacement rider with the team to finish ninth, smashing his previous best of 16th and picking up his first world championship points.

Marcel Schrotter bowed out of the world championship with a top ten finish on the second Liqui Moly Intact GP entry.

Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) worked his way into the points to finish eleventh, ahead of Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team), who came through for twelfth.

The remaining points on offer went to Filip Salac (Gresini Moto2) in 13th, Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Italtrans) in 14th and his team-mate Joe Roberts, who had turned his weekend around in qualifying finding his way through Q1 to sixth on the grid before needing to come back from a poor start in the race for 15th.

 

Crashes and penalties

 

Aron Canet was ready for his home round and back in good spirits, with a special paella themed helmet, as he hunted an elusive first win, but he was out of contact and soon out of the race.

He lasted longer than Simone Corsi who saw his last Moto2 race end on the first lap.

Niccolo Antonelli and Cameron Beaubier also fell, as did Taiga Hada, who received a long lap penalty for crashing under yellow flag conditions, but remounted to finish 22nd.

Celestino Vietti also tried to rejoin the race, but was shown the ‘meatball’ flag for a technical issue on his bike and forced to retire.

 

Where does that leave the final championship standings?

 

Augusto Fernandez and Ai Ogura took their battle for the Moto2 crown all the way to the wire with the gap as small as half a point in the race. 9.5 points separated the dup before the race.

After the fall and Fernandez picking up positions the final gap stood at 29.5 points.

Ogura finished the season second, with Arbolino in of a shout of third before the race, when in the lead he could have took the position, but even though he fell Canet finished the season third, with Arbolino fourth overall

Acosta took the top rookie title in style with his win.

Early championship leader Celestno Vietti’s season was summed up by his drop to seventh overall, losing a place to Jake Dixon who finished sixth after his strong end to his season as the Italian failed to go the distance.

Tony Abrolino made a strong start from second and withsttod contsnt pressure from Ai Ogura to take his third win of the season in the Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, round ninteen of the championship.

The Elf Marc VDS rider had lead from lights out after his superb start, but had Ogura stalking around behind.

The Idemitsu rider made his move with six laps remaining and looked strong out front, attempting to pull out a gap on his Italian rival.

The #79, who started from pole, made that move stick but an error saw Arbolino able to move back in front.

Lesson learnt, the Italian did not look back and took charge of the race over the closing laps.

Ogura worked hard to find another shot at the win, instead of sitting on the twenty points for the championship.

An over-ambitious move on the final lap saw him in front for the briefest of moments, but out wide on the still damp track, his return to the lead lasted seconds as he crashed out at turn nine on the final lap.

It is just Ogura’s second time out of the points this season, with his only other DNF coming in the Portuguese round which saw a huge amount of falls in the trying conditions.

Until that moment, in terms of all-out action their game of cat and mouse faded behind Jake Dixon and title hopeful Augusto Fernandez as they battled their way around the track.

They were behind the then battle for the final podium spot, with rookies Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp) and Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed UP) vying for the position.

Lopez went on to take second, a huge 11.411s behind Arbolino, but Gonzalez faded back into the clutches of the Dixon/Fernandez fight.

The four had been together on track before the in-fighting split them into two duos. There had been contact more than once as the Red Bull KTM rider battled with Dixon.

Now ahead the Inde GasGas Aspar rider used his overtake of Gonzalez to pull out a lead over the #37, and then took chunks out of Lopez to finish right behind him over the line for the final podium spot.

The British rider was exhausted in parc ferme from his efforts, with friend Fabio Quartararo quick to congratulate him.

Fernandez also found a way past Gonzalez for fourth, leaving his compatriot fifth.

Marcel Schrotter was the best of the rest in a distant sixth for Liqui Moly IntactGP.

 Cameron Beaubier was a distant seventh for American Racing.

 

Canet stages comeback for eighth.

 

A very unlucky Aron Canet was caught up in the first lap crash, which saw Ogura’s Idemitsu Honda Team Asia team-mate Somkiat Chantra collect Pedro Acosta with Canet and Alessandro Zaccone caught up in the aftermath.

That dropped the Flexbox HP40 rider from the lead pack to 16th on lap one. The Spaniard had made it up to eleventh by lap three and kept progressing as much as possible in a gapped field to finish a determined eighth at the chequered flag.

Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly IntactGP) and Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools Speed Up) kept him company but did not overtake so took the chequered flag in ninth and tenth respectively.

The gaps on track meant few changes in the rest of the points positions.

Filip Salac was a distant eleventh for Gresini, in turn clear of Italtrans rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta who was twelfth.

Albert Arenas (Inde GasGas Aspar) won his battle with Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) for 13th.

The final point went to the Netherlands rider’s team-mate Taiga Hada, just his second points finish and second in a row after 13th at the last round.

 

Where does that leave the championship?

 

It is advantage Fernandez after Ogura’s spill. The Spanish rider moves back into the overall lead with his fourth place finish, now with a total of 251.5. Ogura didn’t gain a single point after having 20 in his grasp, still on 242, which is now 9.5 points behind Fernandez with one race remaining.

Alonso Lopez takes over as top rookie. The Spaniard is seventh overall and takes over from Pedro Acosta after his two crashes, with a total of 155.5 to his fellow countryman’s 152.

 

Crashes and penalties

 

David Sanchis (replacing Simone Corsi at MV Agusta Forward Racing was also involved in the first lap multi-crash so did not make it past the first lap. All the other debut riders finished the race with Kasma Daniel 19th (Petronas MIE Racing RW), Borja Gomez 20th (replacing Jorge Naravrro at Flexbox HP40) and Azroy Anuar the last of the 22 finishers on the second Petronas bike, in for Zonta Van Den Goorbergh.

Zaccone failed to finish, like Acosta after being caugth up in the lap one accident. Joe Roberts retired to the pits with a bike issue. Celestino Vietti saw his season continue to slide away, just like his bike at turn 15 on lap seven.

A consistent run on one set of tyres saw Ai Ogura place himself perfectly ahead of his title rival by claiming pole position for the Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix, round nineteen of the championship.

With both of the Japanese riders previous poles being translated to a race win, momentum is definitely in Ogura’s favour.

His best times, including the pole lap of 2m 06.405s came chasing around his team-mate at Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, Somkiat Chantra.

Tony Arbolino came closest to matching the #79 but fell 0.083s short on the Elf Marc VDS bike.

Aron Canet may be out of the title hunt, but still has an elusive win to rider for. He is well paced at another shot at victory form third on the grid for Flexbox HP40.

A frustrated Jake Dixon finished the session fourth. Seemingly annoyed with Albert Arenas (who finished the session 13th), with it implied that the pair would be working in unison after leaving the pits together. Dixon was not with the Spaniard on track, so the British rider made his own way, with advice coming from Fabio Quartararo as he went in for a tyre change.

Improvements were thin on the ground for all but Dixon had done enough to lead off the second row.

He is joined by Manuel Gonzalez. The Yamaha VR46 rider claimed his best grid position to date in fifth.

 

Mixed fortunes could spell trouble for Augusto Fernandez.

 

Now second overall, title hopeful Augusto Fernandez has been a constant at the top of the timesheets in Malaysia, but has also found turn 15 to be an issue for him, already having had more then one off at the corner.

The Red Bull rider arrives with what should be a small advantage, with no race in Malaysia since 2019, as has been the case for all the flyaways, he is one of the few to have ridden Sepang before. The last race only has Marcel Schrotter still in Moto2 inside that top ten, with everyone else having moved on (Fernandez was eleventh).

However, in qualifying those crashes came back to haunt the Ajo man, with him losing time being cautious in the final sector, enough to keep him from the front row each time.

His tentative laps left him sixth on the grid, with Ogura’s team-mate Somkiat Chantra making a late move up from tenth to seventh on used rubber to sit behind him on the grid.

His team-mate Pedro Acosta was not available to help the title challenger on his run either, the duo left the pits seperately. Acosta starts eighth.

Cameron Beaubier impressed on a new track for the American with a solid performance bringing him ninth for American Racing.

Alonso Lopez found his Beta Tools Speed Up Boscoscuro package less suited to Sepang. The winner in Australia starts tenth.

 

What happened in Q1?

 

First flying laps were key for most, with Italtrans rider Joe Roberts on top. Gresini’s Filip Salac was closest to the American. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Italtrans) also progressed and was one of very few to improve later, his fourth lap was his best. Salac fell at the start of Q2. Roberts went on to be the best of the riders to move into Q2 in eleventh.

Niccolo Antonelli (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) took the fourth slot as the only faller in the session.

Jeremy Alcoba just missed out in fifth, so starts 19th for Liqui Moly Intact GP.

Celestino Vietti’s (Mooney VR46) season continued it’s dramatic tail-off as he followed slower riders and finished the session sixth (20th on the grid).

 

Injuries and absentees

 

After Australia, several riders remain sidelined with injury.

Both Simone Corsi and Jorge Navarro are absent following their crash, much remembered for the absence of a red flag. The Italian has a finger injury so is replaced at MV Agusta Forward by David Sanchis (24th), a former CEV Moto3 ESBK supersport and endurance rider.

Navarro suffered a fractured femur after being hit by Corsi, and will miss the remainder of the season. Flexbox HP40 have employed Borja Gomez in his place, who also makes his debut in the championship. Gomez, who was the 2021 ESBK supersport winner and this season’s ESBK superbike runner-up starts 26th.

Zonta Van Den Goorburgh also fails to make the line-up for Sepang. He is replaced with Asia road racing competitor Azroy Anuar (28th) though at Petronas MIE Racing RW. Kazma Daniel (29th)returns after his 2020 season in the paddock as a wildcard for the same team.

An incident involving Aron Canet in FP1,which saw him take out Barry Baltus left the RW Racing GP rider out of the rest of the weekend with a heel fracture.

Sam Lowes was withdrawn from the rest of the season by the Elf Marc VDS team to aid his recovery from injury.

Alonso Lopez needed a big start to have time to take his long loop penalty, and that is exactly what he got, heading through his punishment and still coming out in front to win the Moto2 Australian Grand Prix.

Having come in with six races already run to replace Romano Fenati at Beta Tools Speed Up, the Boscoscuro rider already knew he needed a trip around the loop after he took out Celestino Vietti in a moments of carelessness in FP1. 

Fully committed he had an almost three second advantage as he entered and only lost one and a half seconds, the first rider to win with a sanction in Moto2 as he kept his control of the race and stayed one step ahead, with a winning margin of 3.556s.

 

Fernandez out, Ogura eleventh

 

Pedro Acosta was leading his Red Bull team-mate around after working his way to the front of the race. The rookie was left solo when Fernandez slipped away, his championship lead going with him.

Acosta wore a #87 t-shirt on the podium for his friend Remy Gardner who will leave the paddock at the end of the season.

The Spaniard picked up his fourth podium of the tear, but Jake Dixon went one better with a fifth as he held third. Leaving it all on the track to power through from 14th on the grid after a poor qualifying. Dixon dedicated his performance to the late BSB rider Chrissy Rouse.

The British rider was secure in the final podium spot with Fermin Aldeguer, who started on pole, a very distant fourth on the second Boscoscuro, completing a strong day to the team.

The French rider held off Manuel Gonzalez, who equalled his best result to date in fifth for Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team.

Jeremy Alcoba was sixth for Liqui Moly Intact GP. He benefited from Cameron Beaubier deciding to go for it and try for a podium. His risk didn’t pay off, leaving him to instead finish seventh.

Somkiat Chantra, who scored pole at the last round, was almost two seconds further down the road in eighth for Idemitsu Honda team Asia.

Aron Canet had a mainly uneventful race in ninth, while Bo Bendsneyder completed the top ten for Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team.

Ai Ogura never really got into gear after a poor qualifying left him outside the top ten. The Japanese rider recorded his worst result of the season, but was let off the hook by Fernandez’s fall, which turned the tables and instead he found himself in a favourable position overall.

 

Where does that leave the championship?

 

After looking like the points were going to be huge for Augusto Fernandez, his DNF changed all that. The Spaniard remained on 238.5. Ogura is now the championship leader with the points he picked up in eleventh making the difference.

The Japanese rider picked up an extra place when Joe Roberts was a late retirement to the pits.

Tony Arbolino crashing out of second earlier in the race also helped swing the balance in Ogura’s favour.

Sam Lowes brought home the only remaining Elf Marc VDS bike home in twelfth.

The remainig points on offer went to Marcel Schrotter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) 1n 13th, Inde Gas Gas rider Albert Arenas in 14th and Taiga Hada in 15th (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team ) his second consecutive points finish.

Only 18 riders finished the race – Alessandro Zaccone, Marcos Ramirez and Sean Dylan Kelly were the only others to see the chequered flag.

Simone Corsi and Jorge Navarro were the first to exit. The yellow flags were out for a while for Navarro who needed to be stretchered away, Lorenzo Dalla Porta retired to the pits as Filip Salac and Keminth Kubo crashed out in quick succession. Niccolo Antonelli, Barry Baltus and one time title contender Celestino Vietti all also failed to see the end of the race.

Fermin Aldeguer was immediately fast breaking the old lap record right at the start of the Q2 session as the Boscoscuro worked well in the cooler conditions to take pole ahead of the Moto2 Australian Grand Prix, round eighteen of the championship.

The French rider, who already claimed pole in Argeentina earlier In the season before being overshadowed a little by his new team-mate Alonso Lopez, was back to his best and quick straight out of the gates – a new lap record of 1m 32. 233s set right at the start of the session remaining unmatched.

The Beta Tools Speed Up rider will be joined on the front row by his team-mate Lopez, completing a great result for the team.

Lopez has a long lap penalty to serve in the race for taking out Celestino Vietti in the crash filled FP1 session.

 

They are separated on the front row by championship leader Augusto Fernandez. The Red Bull KTM rival, who holds just a one point advantage in the standings, has a little breathing space, with Ai Ogura leaving it late to improve and becoming one of several riders caught out by the early red flag end to the session, which was not restarted with just seconds left, ruining a string of late fast laps, with several more already scratched off thanks to Lorenzo Dalla Porta’s late fall.

Race winner in the abruptly ended rain race last time out, Tony Arbolino remained in good form in fourth for Elf Marc VDS.

Aron Canet made sure he set an early banker, third at the time with that lap he held on to fifth for Flexbox HP40.

Celestino Vietti came through Q1 for sixth for Mooney VR46, riding better with the title out of sight.

Manuel Gonzalez also made his way up from the first qualifying session, the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp rider posting the best time in that session, finishing an eventfuseventh after his on track altercation with Fernandez, which lead to the pair being investigated by race direction.

With two minutes to go, Pedro Acosta was one of few to rime his late improvements right, mocing from 17th to eighth on his final run for Red Bull KTM Ajo.

Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP) and Gresini’s Filip Salac complete the top ten.

Tough day for the Brits in Australia 

 

Both Sam Lowes and Jake Dixon were caught out by the visiting geese. Sam Lowes looked like he had good race pace, which will be needed from twelfth on the grid on the second Sky bike, Jake Dixon started well and was briefly third at the start of the session an was caught out by the wildlife, leaving him 14th.

His fall saw Dall Porta last in Q2 for Italtrans, behind his team-mate Joe Roberts in 15th.

What happened in Q1?

Albert Arenas just missed out on moving on in fifth. The Inde Aspar rider had already found the limit of his GasGas bikes abilities with a spectacular crash earlier in practice. He hit the top of the timesheets, then swiftly hit the gravel. 

With the Spaniard’s bike needed a huge repair again, not going to Q2 allows some extra time to ready for race day. He starts 19th.

American Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly finished Q1 in seventh, which takes him to 21st on the grid, his best start to date.

Augusto Fernandez found track space and an almost perfect line of the MotorLand circuit to claim pole position before tyres lost performance in qualfying for the Moto2 Aragon Grand Prix, round fifteen of the championship.

Sitting in tenth, he pulled out a near faultless lap while out on track after the class exited pit lane for their second runs to finish Saturday topping the timesheets with a best of 1m 51.888s.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider remain calm and focussed to claim just his third career pole – his last one came at Silverstone where he went on to win the race.

An added bonus came from his title rivals under-performing in qualifying. The #37 enjoys a gap back on the grid to Ai Ogura on row six, with Celestino Vietti sitting on a distant row six.

Albert Arenas was flying around the track at the same time but fell just 0.124s short of the best tome for Shimoko GasGas Aspar.

 

Dixon back on form and back on the front row

 

After his rostrum run, Jake Dixon saw his hopes of making it four visits come to an end after a crash in qualifying in San Marino left him swamped on the grid and taken out early in the race.

Undeterred, he arrived in Spain knowing his pace hadn’t changed and was supported by his Apsar team to reset and not the same error again. 

The confidence paid off with Dixon on the front row, alongside team-mate Arenas, completing a strong showing for the GasGas bikes in Q2.

Alonso Lopez continued his good form with the best time after free practice, but couldn’t quite translate that into qualifying pace. The rookie finished Saturday a solid fourth for at CAG Speed Up, the best of the non-Kalex riders in the intermediate class for Boscoscuro.

Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) was the closest of the title contenders to Fernandez as he saw his provisional pole time slip back to fifth.

Pedro Acosta made moves forward from eleventh to sixth for Red Bull KTM Ajo, to complete row two.

Tony Arbolino also found late gains to rise from tenth to seventh for Elf Marc VDS.

Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was the early pace-setter in the session, but his chase for the win will be harder from his eighth place grid slot, with both Canet and Fernandez, who he is only four points behind in the title hunt, ahead on the grid.

The Japanese rider was the best of the Q1 graduates, with American Racing’s Cameron Beaubier, who moved on with the top time, next in 16th.

His team-mate Somkiat Chantra will line up next to him in ninth after being the final rider to set a time in Q2.

With five minutes left to run, it appeared Joe Roberts might have done enough for a fourth place start, but a flurry of late improvements shuffled the Italtrans rider back to tenth.

Fermin Aldeguer was again beaten by his team-mate Lopez since his arrival to replace Romano Fenati, and had to settle for eleventh, with Filip Salac twelfth for Gresini.

Jorge Navarro was the second crasher in the session but still managed to qualify ahead of many riders who stayed upright in 13th for Flexbox HP40.

A qualifying to forget for Vietti

Since his pole to win in Barcelona, qualifying has not seemed quite such an issue for Mooney VR46 Team rider Celestino Vietti.

After also qualifying in the top slot of the grid last time out in San MArino, and needing a strong showing to keep his fading title chances alive, hopes had been high for a repeat for team and rider.

Vietti was immediately on the back foot when he had his last lap cancelled in FP3, which saw him go from 14th to 26th and back into Q1 for exceeding track limits.

After just making it through Q1 with the fourth best time, the Italian immediately had a further setback – falling as the front of his bike locked at turn one, sending him sliding into the gravel in the opening minutes.

Without a lap to his name for most of the session as his machinery underwent repairs and a tyre change, back on track his first effort lifted him from 18th to 16th. He was then dropped back to 17th with only fellow Q1 rider Alessandro Zaccone setting a slower time.

What happened in Q1?

 

With a one run situation, there were no real improvements to be had as the session went on – Vietti’s session progression time was set on his first flyer, while Beaubier remained in the garage as his time was going to remain safe.

Barry Baltus just missed out on the cut so will be best of the rest in 19th on the grid for RW Racing GP.

Loranzo Dalla Porta also came close and will be one place further back for Italtrans.

Marcel Schrotter was another veteran of the class not to progress, he lines up 21st for Liqui Moly Intact GP

Injuries, replacements and penalties

 

Senna Algius is once again in for Sam Lowe at Elf Marc VDS and was looking to break into the Q1 top four on his final run. His time didn’t improve after meeting Sean Dylan Kelly and a host of other riders on track, leaving him seventh in the session – 21st on the grid.

The pair were caught on film deliberately trying to obstruct Tech3’s Adrian Fernandez as he attempted to leave the pits during qualifying 2 at Aragon:

This is what happened in #Moto3 Q2 today. @31AdriFernandez was denied to leave in the good group for the QP time, by another team. Unacceptable. @MotoGP @Max_Racing_Team #AragonGP pic.twitter.com/BgfRAMfu2S

— Tech3 Racing (@Tech3Racing) September 17, 2022

The full statement from the FIM Stewards is as follows:

FIM MotoGP Stewards Notification of Sanction: Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max Team

‘Two members of the team were found to be interfering and making contact with the bike and rider of another team in an aggressive and dangerous manner as that rider was leaving the pit box in Moto3 Q2.

‘Both team members have been fined €2000, and they have each been disqualified from taking part in the Animoca Brands Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix AND the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia.

‘It would not be possible to replace the team members in question for the next two races due to immigration and travel restrictions for upcoming rounds, which could potentially cause a safety concern for their rider.

‘This two-race ban has therefore been deferred to apply to the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix.’

Responding to the video of the incident, team boss Max Biaggi wrote on Instagram:

“Unacceptable behavior! We publicly apologize to the Tech3 Racing Team and Adriàn Fernàndez. An unsolicited, dangerous action that cannot be justified in any way by our code of ethics! Those responsible will be appropriately punished.”