A late crash for Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) in Q2 in Austin brought out the Yellow Flags in Sectors 3 and 4, meaning laps were cancelled for all riders heading through that yellow flag zone. Laps are automatically cancelled for riders who pass a yellow flag.

However, a lap can be reinstated if the FIM MotoGP Stewards deem that it was impossible for a rider to have seen the yellow flag in time to react and slow down. That was the case at COTA for Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), who was just two bikes behind Mir when the Honda rider’s incident happened.

As you can see below, the marshal post reacts quickly to Mir’s crash to display the yellow flag, but not before Diggia has already arrived at the post and will already be looking far beyond the apex of that corner.

The Stewards deemed he wasn’t able to see the yellow flag in time to know that he needed to slow, and therefore reinstated this lap. Good news for the #49, as it is a lap that’s put him second on the grid behind only eight-time COTA polesitter Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team).