Alpinestars says there was nothing wrong with Fabio Quartararo’s race suit

Alpinestars has moved to confirm Fabio Quartararo’s unfastened leathers during the Catalunya MotoGP were not open because of a failure, saying they found it to be ‘in normal working order’.

The company that manufactures the racing suit belonging to the Frenchman opened an investigation to determine whether a design fault was the cause for an unusual incident that has become a talking point in the paddock.

Quartararo said the leathers became open on the opening lap of the Catalunya MotoGP he had started on pole position, though it wasn’t noticed until the final few laps when he was seen pulling off his rib protecting armour that started to shuffle up his body and was now impairing his movement.

As a result, it became clear Quartararo was riding his Yamaha with the leathers open and with his chest visible for the last few laps. He finished third on the road before a penalty for a track limit violation dropped him to fourth, becoming sixth when a three-second penalty for removing his rib protector was applied.

According to Quartararo after the race, he said the leathers felt loose as he came round the opening bend and he couldn’t pull them closed because it needs two hands to squeeze it shut for the zipper work..

"I had the leathers completely open in the first corner and I just tried to put [the zip] back in a normal position again. I couldn't do it. When [the zip] is totally down you need to stretch [the two sides together to pull the zip back up], like a zip on a pair of jeans."

However, while this placed the emphasis on Alpinestars, the company found there to be no problem.

“Upon initial analysis [Alpinestars] found the suit to be in normal working order with all zippers and fasteners fully functioning.”

The somewhat unusual incident has opened a debate about whether Quartararo should have been black flagged or disqualified, particularly when the wording in the regulation alludes to this, saying: “(The racing suit) 'must be worn, correctly fastened, at all times during on-track activity'.

Initially Quartararo disagreed with the penalty he received, but has since said on reflection that - in light of Jason Dupasquier’s death a week early - he should have been stopped by stewards.