Aprilia has parted ways with the engineer who was caught on camera at the Austrian Grand Prix capturing 3D scans of rival MotoGP bikes including Ducati's in the Red Bull Ring pitlane, The Race has learned.
The incident garnered much publicity in the paddock thanks to having triggered an angry outburst from Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi.
The engineer was spotted using the LiDAR camera on his iPad to scan Marco Bezzecchi’s Ducati GP23 during the public pitlane walk - before being intercepted by a furious Tardozzi.
“This guy also scanned the bikes at Yamaha and Pramac,” the veteran team boss told German-language publication Speedweek.com after the incident.
“People then saw him at VR46 and filmed him doing it. He walked around all the bikes with the iPad - sometimes up to 10 centimetres and in front of everyone.
"One of our guys was standing right behind him. So we have a video of his iPad screen. That's how we know that he scanned the bikes with a program."
Examining rival manufacturers’ machines (including with the use of photography and video recording) has always been a part of the games played in the championship’s paddock, with engineers often spotted examining other bikes, especially during test days.
But despite the fairly recent addition of sensors to personal devices that allow accurate three-dimensional scans, the exact measuring of bikes has been something that has been seen as a step too far, with an unofficial gentlemen’s agreement between factories largely preventing it.
And, with the Aprilia engineer (who is believed not to have been at the event in a professional capacity) very much caught in the act, the Italian factory has, according to The Race’s sources in the paddock, now parted ways with the contractor following his unauthorised breach of the aforementioned agreement.
The Race understands this was done as part of a zero-tolerance approach to such matters rather than specifically a move to placate Ducati - though Ducati did receive an apology from Aprilia engineering boss Romano Albesiano in the aftermath of the incident.
“Romano was also very angry,” Tardozzi told Speedweek. “Romano isn't stupid enough to send someone in an Aprilia shirt to do scans.
"I don't know the guy, I've never seen him. Maybe he's from the aerodynamics department. He probably wanted to be clever - but he's probably the biggest idiot! I told him that he was doing something that wasn't allowed.
"For me, the matter is over. Aprilia apologised - but it's not fair."
