After riding slowly on the racing line during the first part of qualifying at the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon, Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) has been handed a three-place grid penalty by the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel, with Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) receiving a six-place penalty.
Both riders were cruising down the back straight heading into Turn 16, which impeded Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Bradley Smith while the British rider was on a flying lap. Morbidelli gets six-places for repeat offences and will now start 19th, with Viñales starting 14th after progressing into Q2.
This now means Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) are promoted to P11, P12 and P13 respectively, with Smith, Karel Abraham (Angel Nieto Team), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) and Hafizh Syahrin (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) now starting P15, P16, P17 and P18.