Several leading MotoGP riders have expressed concerns over the safety of debutant Christophe Ponnson, who replaces the injured Tito Rabat at Avintia at Misano this weekend.
Rabat suffered a triple-fracture to his right leg in a horror crash at Silverstone last month, and will be sidelined for the foreseeable future following successful “emergency surgery”.
Avintia confirmed on Tuesday Xavier Simeon would take over Rabat's GP17 Ducatis, while CEV Superbike rider Ponnson would take Rabat's place aboard the GP16.
22-year-old Ponnson has no prior MotoGP experience, and Yamaha's Valentino Rossi believes this is “maybe not very safe”.
“I also don't know him,” he said when asked if the Frenchman's lack of experience posed a safety concern.
“So to ride a MotoGP bike for the first time in a weekend of the race, for me, is not a great idea because the brakes, the tyres [are different]; maybe is not very safe.
“We need to keep attention. I don't know him, maybe he is good and fast. We will have to see.”
Honda's Marc Marquez echoed the Yamaha rider's thoughts, while also taking issue with riders who pay their way onto the grid.
“I didn't know that there was another rider in place of Tito,” Marquez added.
“I don't know him, but as we say in the past: to race in MotoGP you have to have a minimum level of career.
“To arrive in MotoGP because of money is not the way, we are the best championship in the world. I know some people need to arrive like this, but it's not safe. But we will see.”
Ponnson has raced at world championship level previously, in Dorna's sister World Superbike series back in 2015, scoring 18 points aboard customer Kawasaki machinery, and has experience of the Misano circuit.
Current rules stipulate a rider must lap within 107 percent of the fastest laptime on the combined timesheets throughout practice to gain entry to qualifying, which guarantees participation in the race.
