IRTA, the association of teams that was originally formed to protect the interests of the teams, has now completely abandoned its original purpose.
The association, chaired by Hervé Poncharal, head of the Tech 3 team in MotoGP, has now simply taken on the role of “paddock police” and that is how it is.
The latest was Gino Borsoi, the spokesman and team manager of the great Aspar Martinez, was punished for expressing doubts about the regularity of the Leopard team’s Honda.
Well known as a 125cc in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Borsoi once made headlines in 125 tests for killing a Cobra on the Johor Bahru route in Malaysia.
Apart from his statement, which we only comment on if it is supported by an assertion, we do not see the logic behind a fine, as everyone is responsible for their own statements (see: freedom of thought and speech). Leopard should have filed a complaint (possibly for defamation).
But it is not the first time that IRTA has taken on this unusual rolee: The well-known Alessandro Mazzocchetti alias Alex Design, who designs in his shop for the Petronas Yamahas, ended up in their clutches in Misano and was removed from the paddock.
If anything, we believe that this type of intervention should be the responsibility of the FIM. But we know that the organization, chaired by Jorge Viegas, is now a simulacrum of what was once administered by Sito Ponswhile FIM was in the hands of Nicolas Rodil Del Valle placeholder image (1970s) o Francesco Zerbi.