MotoGP: Yamaha docked points for illegal engine modifications

Yamaha has been hit with a points dock for the Monster and Petronas team standings and the manufacturer standings.

Yamaha have been found guilty of “failing to respect the protocol which requires them to obtain unanimous approval from MSMA for technical changes” after they swapped out a set of valves which did not perform correctly during the Jerez rounds of the season which were won by Fabio Quartararo.

During the two opening rounds at Jerez, Yamaha realised that they had a faulty component which was seriously lowering the life span of their engines, therefore needed to take action, replacing the valves used only at Jerez, starting an FIM investigation.

Thankfully for Yamaha and their riders, the penalty is only for the team points standings and the manufacturer standings, this means that Fabio Quartararo still trails Joan Mir by 14 points in the standings and not 64.

They have lost the points scored in the team and manufacturer standings meaning that they have been hit with a -50 in the constructor’s championship, going from a 37 point lead to trailing Ducati by 13 points.

The Petronas team have lost 37 team points whilst the Monster Energy team have lost 20, the points scored in the Jerez races for the teams championship.

The statement from the FIM read: “Due to an internal oversight, Yamaha Motor Company failed to respect the protocol which requires them to obtain unanimous approval from MSMA for technical changes. For this reason, Yamaha Motor Company have had 50 World Championship Constructor points withdrawn. This is double the points earned whilst not respecting the protocol required for technical changes.

“Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP have had 20 World Championship Team points withdrawn. This is the points earned whilst not respecting the protocol. Petronas Yamaha SRT have had 37 World Championship Team points withdrawn. This is also the points earned whilst not respecting the protocol.”

Featured image – www.motogp.com