A 500-cc Grand Prix winner, Simon Crafar will be letting go of his long-time pit reporting duties to replace Freddie Spencer
While motor sport including top-class motorcycle racing brings us plenty of memorable wheel-to-wheel battles, the important thing is to keep such battles clean, and having a stewards panel that can be transparent, robust and consistent when it comes to decision making is paramount to keep the sporting integrity of the championship intact. Of course, such a stewards panel needs a strong leader. Since the Chairman of the MotoGP stewards panel role was created in 2019, former motorcycle racer and two-time 500-cc champion, Freddie Spencer, has been serving that role. And, now, Simon Crafar has been appointed to replace him from 2025 onwards.
Another former motorcycle racer himself, the New Zealander has competed in the 500-cc class, taking a win at the 1998 British Grand Prix. Alongside his MotoGP commitments he was also racing in the World Superbike series. After retirement, he returned to the MotoGP paddock, joining as a pitlane reporter for Dorna and has been one the most popular faces (and voices) on the international TV feed for MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 since. From 2025 onwards though, he will no longer be one of those faces.
Simon Crafar’s appointment as the Chairman of the MotoGP stewards panel comes off the back of mounting criticisms of steward decisions in recent times. Will this appointment improve things when it comes to key decisions regarding on-track scenarios? We’ll have to wait until 2025 to find out, but if the rules can be consistently implemented, then everybody is happy and can put more attention to racing on track rather than a stewards room.
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