Here is a disaster for Leopard Racing and Adrian Fernandez: the rider has been disqualified from the first six Grands Prix of the 2026 season. This heavy blow comes after findings from the Technical Director and official reports from the engine manufacturer revealed that two of his engines were opened without authorization.
It all started after the French GP. Standard procedure saw the engine manufacturer request the removal of seals from the riders' first group of engines once they reached the end of their service life. That was when it became obvious that the seals on one of Fernandez' engines did not match the standard wiring procedure. Further checks backed by the Technical Director's findings and the manufacturer's report confirmed the unauthorized tampering.
Under regulations, this technical infringement means the specific unit counts as a new engine in the rider's allocation. Article 2.6.3.3.13(c) explicitly dictates that any engine featuring damaged, missing, or tampered security seals is treated as a newly allocated engine. Consequently, the FIM MotoGP Stewards cited contraventions of Article 2.6.3.3 covering Moto3 class Engine Durability, alongside Article 3.3.2.2 regarding any corrupt or fraudulent act or actions prejudicial to the interests of the sport. The resulting penalty is disqualification from the Thai, Brazilian, US, and Spanish Grands Prix, as those were the events where this particular engine was used.
Unfortunately for the team, the trouble did not end there. Following the Mugello race weekend, the Leopard Racing team was asked to surrender certain engines for regulatory examination. Inspection by the engine manufacturer revealed that the seal wires and sealing stickers on another engine showed evidence of tampering. Under the supervision of Technical Control, this second machine was transported to the subsequent event and opened by the manufacturer, where various anomalies confirmed it too had been adjusted without authorization.
Much like the first case, this second technical infringement forces the unit to be counted as a new engine in the rider allocation. The Stewards duly laid down another penalty: disqualification from the French and Catalan GPs, the events featuring this second compromised engine.
The consequences for the standings are brutal. The #31 is left holding a mere 13 points collected from the Italian GP at Mugello, plunging him all the way from third place down to the lower end of the top 20.
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