Moto2 – Romano Fenati back on track?

Bruno Gomes

September 19, 2018

We all have seen what happened at the recent San Marino GP in the Moto2 class, where Romano Fenati and Stefano Manzi were involved in some heated moves, and latter Fenati pushed the front brake of his rival, being disqualified, and receiving a two-race ban.

But more than the two-race ban, the worst that could’ve happen to Fenati was the way other riders now look at him, and mainly MotoGP riders like Cal Crutchlow have said that there’s no place for Fenati in this sport, while teams also don’t want to get involved with someone known for his bad behavior.

Fenati was fired from the Marinelli Snipers team, and a day after MV Agusta Forward team also announced they wouldn’t have him as a rider for 2019. Adding to this, the Italian Motorcycling Federation suspended Fenati’s racing license, so he had no choice but to abandon racing in Moto2, announcing he would return to work at his grandfather workshop in Italy, and return to school.

Cast aside by everyone, Romano Fenati’s decision seemed to be definitive.

But his future might not be so “dark” after all, and according to an article published by Italian news portal Corse di Moto, the International Motorcycling Federation had a meeting with Fenati recently, where they talked about what happened and the IMF made sure the young Italian understood what he did was very bad.

There’s an agreement between the IMF and Romano Fenati for both parties to maintain the discussions on the said meeting in confidentiality, so there are no details about the meeting.

President of the IMF, Vito Ippolito, has his hands tied up regarding Romano Fenati.

On one side he can’t punish the rider more than the Grand Prix Commission already did (the two-race ban), because that would mean that the most important ruling body on Grand Prix racing isn’t totally in charge, applying the rules and regulations, and on the other side Ippolito is also being pushed by Dorna CEO, Carmelo Ezpeleta.

And why is Ezpeleta pushing Vito Ippolito because of Romano Fenati?

According to Corse di Moto, Dorna’s CEO wants to see Fenati back on track as soon as possible, and he already spoke to Fenati’s family assuring that a solution will be found, very soon. Ezpeleta wishes to give Romano Fenati another chance in the motorcycle racing world, and that might mean that the Italian Motorcycling Federation could reinstate Fenati’s racing license, and the rider could get back into a racing bike as soon as the Japanese GP.

But Fenati was fired after the incident in Misano with Manzi, and the Marinelli Snipers team already has contracted the services of Xavier Cardelus until the end of the season to replace Romano Fenati. Other Moto2 teams aren’t willing to see their names – and sponsors – associated with a rider that has become “toxic” in the Moto2 paddock.

So, it’s a bit of a mystery to see exactly how Carmelo Ezpeleta plans to get Fenati back on track…