Several MotoGP riders have supported the decision to appoint Simon Crafar as the series’ primary steward from 2025.
Former grand prix and World Superbike racer Crafar will become the new chief of MotoGP’s stewards panel next year, taking over the role from two-time 500cc champion Freddie Spencer.
Crafar is popular among fans thanks to his commentary and pitlane reporting role with Dorna, and also enjoys a good reputation within the paddock for his experience and analysis.
With Crafar’s predecessor Spencer having come under fire a number of times over some inconsistent rulings, many are hoping that the change will help reduce the grievances over stewarding in MotoGP.
Current points leader Jorge Martin expects the Kiwi to be very fair in his decision-making process, thanks to his intricate knowledge of the sport and the time he spent carefully evaluating on-track incidents in his TV gig.
“For me, it's a big change, a great change,” said the Pramac rider. “I know Simon quite a lot and also, I know that he is still riding.
“He will understand a bit better how the bike moves and how things can change.
“He can be a bit more equal between different situations. He is also always coming to understand the sport, trying to learn from us, asking us some questions. So he will be really good in his new job.”
Another criticism against Spencer was the lack of communication from him with riders and teams, which meant a lot of people didn’t fully understand the reasoning behind some of his decisions.
Crafar, on the other hand, regularly interacts with other members of the paddock as part of his TV duties, and Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia believes this is another area that makes him a good fit for the steward role.
“I think it's one of the hardest jobs to do here in the paddock because to choose [these] kind of things is not easy,” he said.
“But what I think is good with Simon is that we can have a good dialogue with him. We speak a lot with Simon every weekend and if he can always take the same line, it could be a really good job. But for sure it's not an easy job.”
Another rider to openly voice his support of Crafar was six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez, who said: “I wish the best luck to Simon. I wish the best to him because it's a very difficult position. It's like a referee in soccer, impossible to make everybody happy.
“In the end, it's the right decision and we need to adapt if it's some new rules, if it's the same rules, where is the limit? As we understand this year it's changing a bit and I feel comfortable.”
Crafar remained active in motorcycle racing until the early 2000s and still rides production bikes on tracks.
VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi believes Crafar thus has a better understanding of modern-day MotoGP and is more fit to evaluate any incidents between riders.
“For me, he can understand the racing more also because he was riding,” he said. “Freddie was also riding but it was a completely different era.
“[Crafar] was also riding in the past but he continued to come to the MotoGP for all these years. So hopefully he can do a good job. I hope a lot because I like him a lot.
“But I understand that it will be difficult. If they chose him because they have good reasons to do it.”
