The opening day of the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia brought unexpected drama off the track as the FIM MotoGP Stewards Panel handed down heavy penalties to several competitors in the intermediate class. Barry Baltus bore the heaviest brunt of the disciplinary actions, facing a mandatory start from the very back of the grid for Sunday's main race at the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit.
The paddock officials were kept exceptionally busy following the Friday afternoon sessions due to multiple infractions regarding unnecessarily slow riding on the racing line. Race direction emphasized that slowing down excessively without valid reasons poses a serious safety hazard to following riders who are pushing on fast laps during practice.
For Baltus, the consequences are particularly devastating as this ruling marks his third offense of the current season. The REDS Fantic Racing rider was found to have breached the strict 135-percent sector time limit rule across multiple sectors during the afternoon practice session.
Under the established sporting regulations, accumulating three such penalties triggers an automatic grid penalty that forces the offender to start from the rear of the field, regardless of whatever position they manage to secure during the Saturday qualifying sessions.
Meanwhile, Aron Canet also failed to escape a significant sanction from the panel after committing the exact same infraction on track. The ELF Marc VDS Racing Team contender was slapped with a nine-place grid drop because this weekend's incident represented his second infraction of the championship year.
A separate type of penalty was handed to another Spanish contender following a late-session safety violation caused by mechanical troubles. Alonso Lopez crawled at a dangerously low speed from turn seven onward after his machine suffered technical difficulties.
The Italjet Gresini Moto2 rider failed to park his crippled motorcycle in a safe designated spot beside the circuit before finally coming to a halt in the escape road of turn sixteen, unnecessarily triggering a yellow flag situation in the dying moments of the session and earning a six-place grid penalty.
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