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Crutchlow: Rossi/Marquez wouldn't have had Argentina MotoGP penalty

Cal Crutchlow believes the likes of Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi would not have been given the ride-through penalty he received in MotoGP's Argentina Grand Prix.

Crutchlow was penalised for jumping the start and could only recover to 12th place after falling to last.

After the race, the LCR Honda rider went straight to race direction to question his penalty.

MotoGP regulations stipulate that the bike "must be stationary at the time the red lights are turned off", but allow for some leeway.

"In the case of a minor movement and subsequent stop whilst the red lights are on, the designated officials will be the sole judge of whether an advantage has been gained," the regulations read.

Crutchlow said in his incident he was "balancing" his bike with his foot within his grid slot, which caused small movements.

He said he was shown side-camera footage by the stewards, but insisted he moved "not even a centimetre" and that high-profile names such as Marquez, Rossi or Andrea Dovizioso would not have been penalised.

"Nobody in my team, or anybody who has seen it, agrees with it, except for the stewards," said Crutchlow.

"My problem that I have with the race direction is I don't believe they would have given this penalty to Marc or Vale, Dovi or someone like that.

"I'm not picking on Valentino or anyone, I am talking about somebody with a high profile. Say Marc did that and he was leading the race, do you think [the stewards] would have given him a ride through?

"I don't. That is my opinion."

Crutchlow was particularly critical of two-time 500cc champion Freddie Spencer, who was made chairman of the FIM MotoGP stewards this year.

"When I went up there, Freddie Spencer didn't say one word to me, just stood there with his arms folded," Crutchlow continued.

"When it is surely brought up in the safety commission in the next grand prix, when we show him the videos the other riders will laugh and they will then lose the respect for him as well.

"I have utmost respect for him as a rider but in the Safety Commission we ask for somebody that understands racing and is going to have some discretion.

"It is just ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous.

"They didn't say anything, they didn't say one word to me in the time I was in there. I was in there 10 minutes complaining and saying that I was not moving, my whole team was, and not one of them said one word.

"It sounds like I am on an absolute rampage and attack against them, but you have to understand the way that I am feeling and the way that every single person that I've asked sees it on TV, they are feeling the same feeling - that I never jumped the start."

Zdroj: autosport.com