Quartararo’s Yamaha leather was completely disintegrated with about five laps of Sunday’s Catalan GP remaining, with the Frenchman spotted taking off his chest protector as he drove through the right-hand corner of Turn 3.
The Yamaha rider – who eventually finished fourth after being late downgraded from third due to a track limit violation – could not explain the problem with his racing leather and found Alpinestars to be looking into it.
Opinion on Quartararo’s decision to continue with his racing suit has been criticized, with two-time MotoGP champion Casey Stoner saying on Twitter that the Yamaha rider should have raced with the black flag.
The current FIM rules on safety equipment state: “The equipment must be worn and correctly attached at all times during activity on the route.”
Suzuki rider Mir – who finished fifth in the race – doesn’t think Quartararo should be penalized for finishing the race with leather pants down, but the way he took off his chest protector should receive a penalty.
“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 the way it is.
“We have to learn from this, I don’t want them to throw a breastplate in my face in another race, we have to set a good example with penalty shootouts.”
Johann Zarco, who finished second in Barcelona, believes Quartararo’s behavior justified a black flag for disqualification “for his safety”.
“I think it wasn’t dangerous for us, but maybe it was dangerous for him,” said the Pramac driver.
“We cannot race with an open color. At least [if he] Got the chest protector out and then closed the suit again, yes it’s as if the chest protector doesn’t do everything.
“But if he only slips with an open suit, it can be so dangerous. So a black flag for your safety can make sense. ”
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Honda’s Marc Marquez considers it “unfair” to have disqualified Quartararo, but admits that he should have withdrawn for safety reasons.
“We discussed it with the team,” said Marquez of the incident.
“I think it will come up in the Security Commission, and I think it’s unfair for you to scare him.
“But it’s a dangerous thing, it’s like having to stop when something is on the bike, you have to make it [safe] and if you can’t, you have to retire.
“I think they should have done that. Either you take off your clothes, lose three or four seconds and tie your overalls, or you have to stop. “
Marquez ‘Honda teammate Pol Espargaro added that if the problem hit him, he would have done the same thing as Quartararo.
Additional reporting from Oriol Puigdemont