Huge surprise: manipulation penalty against Leopard Racing overturned

The Hungarian Grand Prix at Lake Balaton didn’t just make big headlines on the track. Last June, things were also in full swing within the Technical Commission and amongst the Moto3 team at Leopard Racing. The team, which competes with Honda bikes and features riders Adrian Fernandez and Guido, was found guilty of engine tampering.

The grounds for the ruling stated, amongst other things: “Based on the Technical Director’s findings regarding the seals and the official report from the engine manufacturer, it was established that engine no. 811 had been opened without authorisation. This contravenes Article 2.6.3.3 of the FIM Regulations for the World Grand Prix Championship, Moto3 class ‘Engine Durability’, as well as Article 3.3.2.2 (corrupt or fraudulent conduct). SPEEDEEK.com reported on the matter in detail.

The consequence: top rider Fernandez was retrospectively disqualified from six Grand Prix races. As well as causing enormous damage to his reputation, the incident also had serious sporting consequences. The deduction of 77 World Championship points meant the loss of third place in the World Championship standings and a drop to the lower half of the table.

Leopard Racing tritt 2026 mit Fernandez und Pini in der Moto3-WM an

Foto: Gold and Goose

As early as the summer, the penalised team had protested vehemently and exercised its right to appeal. As is usual in legal matters, months passed before there was now a surprising turn of events in the Leopard Racing and Fernandez case.

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On 15 October, the FIM’s International Court of Appeal (CAI) overturned the ruling and upheld the appeal, which had been lodged in due course immediately after the ruling was announced on 5 June. The official statement reads: “The FIM International Court of Appeal announced three important decisions: the appeals lodged by Leopard Racing and Adrian Fernandez against the decisions of 5 June were declared admissible. The appeals were upheld on the merits, and the two decisions by the FIM Appeals Commissioners were set aside; the relevant sporting authorities must now take the necessary measures in accordance with the ruling.”

Interestingly, details of the case will only be announced at a later date. “The ruling overturns the previous sporting decisions, although the detailed legal and technical grounds for their annulment will only be known once the reasoned judgment has been examined,” according to the official statement.

Furthermore, there is now once again the possibility of challenging the Court of Appeal’s overturning of the decision. A decision must be made within four weeks as to whether the FIM Technical Commission will once again act as the prosecuting body. In the meantime, Leopard Racing – led by team owner Flavio Becca – and rider Adrian Fernandez are deemed innocent. This also means that, following the overturning of the disqualification, the MotoGP administration will recalculate the standings and draw up an updated Moto3 World Championship table. For the reinstated Fernandez, this sees him move up from 14th to 5th place.