Adrian Fernandez has been disqualified from six races of the 2026 Moto3 season: two sealed engines under scrutiny – Leopard has won its appeal, but…
The Leopard Racing Team has won its appeal before the International Court of Appeal of the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) regarding the disqualifications of Adrian Fernandez from the first six races of the 2026 Moto3 season.
Fernandez had his results from the first six races of the season struck off the record due to a serious technical infringement. During the Hungarian Grand Prix, which took place in June at Balaton Park, the FIM stewards announced the federation’s decision.
The decision was announced after it was established at first instance that two of the originally sealed Honda engines on Fernández’s Moto3 bike, bearing start number 31, had been opened and showed signs of tampering.
The panel, chaired by Simon Crafar, had stated in an initial statement that, following the French Grand Prix at Le Mans in May, engine manufacturer Honda had, in accordance with standard procedure, requested “the removal of the seals from the first batch of engines that had reached the end of their service life”.
“Whilst the seals were removed from all engines, it was found that the wire seals on engine number 810 did not comply with the standard sealing procedure. The Technical Director and his team carried out a more detailed examination of the engine’s sealing labels, which, in their opinion, also showed signs of tampering.”
“Based on the Technical Director’s findings regarding the seals and the official report from the engine manufacturer, it was therefore concluded that engine #810 had been opened without authorisation,” it was stated in June.
Apart from engine #810, engine #811 was also affected by this incident. Engine #810 is the engine used by Fernandez in Buriram, Goiânia, Austin and Jerez. Engine #811 was used by the Spanish Leopard driver at Le Mans and Barcelona.
As a result, Fernandez was stripped of the results from the first six races of the season: In total, he was stripped of 77 points – specifically those he had scored in Buriram (P6), Goiânia (P8), Austin (P5), Jerez (P2), Le Mans (P2) and Barcelona (P8).
However, the Leopard team, led by technical director Christian Lündberg, consistently maintained its innocence and accused the FIM of seeking to issue them with “a warning” and of having “fabricated” a problem with the engine seals. The team therefore decided to take the matter to the FIM Appeals Court.
Now, four months later, it has emerged that the appeal has been upheld and Leopard has won its case with the FIM. The team now hopes that the six disallowed results will be reinstated shortly.
In the current 2026 Moto3 overall standings, Adrian Fernandez is in 14th place with 71 points after 17 of the 22 scheduled races of the season. Together with the 77 points that were stripped from Fernandez, he would have a total of 148 points and would therefore move up to fifth place in the standings. However, there is a possibility that the FIM may lodge an appeal of its own. It has one month to do so.
“The FIM International Court of Appeal has upheld the appeals lodged by Leopard Racing,” the Leopard team announced on Thursday evening in a statement published on its social media channels.
In the statement, the team explains that “the FIM International Court of Appeal has handed down its ruling on the appeals lodged by Leopard Racing and Mr Adrian Fernandez against two decisions by the FIM Stewards on 5 June 2026 regarding non-compliance with the regulations concerning engines 810 and 811”.
The Court has therefore ruled as follows: “The appeals lodged by Leopard Racing and Mr Adrian Fernandez against the two decisions of the FIM Stewards dated 5 June 2026, which were issued in connection with the non-compliance of engines 810 and 811, are upheld.”
“The appeals are upheld on the merits, and the decisions of the FIM Commissioners of 5 June 2026 are set aside. The relevant sporting authorities are instructed to draw the necessary conclusions from this judgement, where appropriate.”
“In accordance with Article 2.5.3 of the FIM Regulations and Article 75 of the Swiss Civil Code, an appeal against this judgement may be lodged by the FIM International Court of Appeal with the competent court of the Canton of Vaud within one month.”
Meanwhile, the Leopard team concludes its own statement as follows: “We would like to thank all our fans for the unconditional support they have shown us during this difficult time. We extend our sincere thanks to our experts, all the witnesses and our legal team, who have restored the honour and dignity of the Leopard Racing Team and its rider, Adrian Fernandez.”
However, as things stand today, the case is not yet fully concluded…