Catalunya was the site of a completely understandable and no-way avoidable blunder that caused MotoGP veteran, Aleix Espargaró, to go from second to fifth – throwing away valuable championship points.
“I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life; this mistake was all on me and I can’t apologize enough to all the fans and especially to Aleix,” said Carmelo Ezpeleta, Owner of MotoGP. “We should have known that the current chequered flag – the one that’s been used to signal the end of nearly every race since 1906 – just isn’t enough.
Aleix, who has competed in hundreds of races over his career, was the latest (and pretty much the only) victim of poor flag design after he began celebrating his perceived 2nd-place finish with one lap left to go.
“I’ve never been more afraid in my life,” said Aleix. “I was in the middle of waving to my fans – all of whom were gesturing enthusiastically back – when my hand was almost taken off by a couple of Ducatis and a Suzuki zooming past. I felt like a Prius in the fast lane.”
Fortunately, MotoGP officials feel they’ve come up with a solution that will prevent this from happening in the future: A chequered flag with extra chequers.
“I think this is the right call,” said Aleix. “Trust me, I have two kids, so this isn’t my first time finishing prematurely.”
Despite this setback, Aleix wanted his fans to know that he plans on bouncing back better than ever.
“Mark my words, I’ll be celebrating as MotoGP Champion at the last race of the season… In Malaysia.”