The Yamaha rider finished the Grand Prix with his suit open and chest protection uncovered, which resulted in a three-second post-race time penalty that dropped him to sixth place after finishing third with a three-second time penalty for violating the track boundaries had lost.
Quartararo had no explanation for why his leather was cracking and said Alpinestars would be looking into the problem.
He later said that he should have been disqualified from the race with a black flag and therefore because of his suit problem, because the behavior “was incorrect” after the tragedy of Jason Dupasquier.
The current FIM rules on safety equipment state: “The equipment must be worn and correctly attached at all times during activity on the route.”
The manufacturer said Tuesday that it found “all zippers and fasteners fully functional” following an initial assessment and said that all components of the suit, including the tech air airbag system, are intact.
In a statement, Alpinestars said: “Following Sunday’s MotoGP race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the Alpinestars Racing Development Team has launched an investigation into the integrity of Fabio Quartararo’s racing suit.
“During an initial analysis after the race in the Alpinestars Racing Development Truck in the MotoGP paddock, the team found that the suit was working normally and that all zippers and fasteners were fully functional.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“In addition, all components of the suit, including the Tech-Air® airbag system, were intact and fully functional. The Tech-Air® airbag system did not deploy during the race, it worked as expected as there was no crash situation.
“This is just an initial assessment that needs to be further investigated once the suit is in the Alpinestars laboratory at Alpinestars headquarters and is running all the tests and analysis to find out more about the cause of the incident.”
Following the incident, MotoGP World Champion Joan Mir – who finished fifth in the race – said he didn’t think Quartararo should be punished for finishing the race with the leather open, but that the way he did took off his chest protector, should collect a fine.
“What I find very dangerous is throwing the breastplate, it’s made of plastic and it’s dangerous, bicycles are coming from behind at 200 km / h,” said Mir.
“That is of course a criminal offense, I think it puts the other drivers in danger, that’s how it is.”
Johann Zarco, second at Barcelona, said he believed Quartararo’s actions warranted a black flag disqualification “for his safety”.
Honda’s Marc Marquez considers it “unfair” to have disqualified Quartararo, but admits that he should have withdrawn for safety reasons.