FIM confirm Sepang data will not be released

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FIM President Vito Ippolito has confirmed in a statement that the onboard data from Marc Marquez’s Repsol Honda at the time of his clash with Valentino Rossi at Sepang will not be released publically.

Honda had originally said that they would release the information, but retracted the statement when both governing body FIM and race organisers Dorna asked them not to in an attempt to cool the feud between Rossi, Marquez and their respective fans.

Now, in a statement by Ippolito, the Venezuelan has reiterated the need to calm tensions, and has confirmed that the information will not be released.

During the last competition in Valencia, Team Honda informed us that they had all the telemetry relating to the incident. Now the data are in our hands, and Honda and the FIM have decided together not to release them so as not to fuel further polemics."

"The dispute was brought before the CAS and the case is now closed. It is true that at the end of the season the polemics around the Rossi-Marquez case swelled to unprecedented levels. For that reason, we asked all the people involved, including the teams, to refrain from engaging in controversy about what happened in Sepang. “

Honda top boss Shuhei Nakamoto claimed at the time that the data showed a deliberate impact on Marquez’s brake lever by Rossi, something denied by the Italian.

“The data from Marc’s bike shows that even though he was picking up the bike trying to avoid contact with Valentino, his front brake lever suddenly received an impact that locked the front tyre, which is the reason for his crash. We believe that this pressure was a result of Rossi’s kick.”

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