MotoGP scraps penalty points
The International Motorcycling Federation has announced penalty points will no longer to awarded in MotoGP races.
Penalty points will no longer be used in MotoGP after they were judged to be "no longer necessary" at the latest Grand Prix Commission meeting.
Four years ago the system was introduced into the sport to punish "irresponsible riding" and improve the consistency in reprimands, after complaints several incidents in 2012 were treated too leniently or with excessive harshness.
Up to 10 penalty points could be imposed by stewards with grid demotions, pitlane starts and even race bans the possible consequences.
That was changed last season with only race disqualification once a rider reached 10 points in a calendar year.
However, the International Motorcycling Federation has opted to remove them from the options available to stewards following a meeting ahead of the opening race of the 2017 season in Qatar.
"Taking into consideration that the FIM MotoGP Stewards have many penalties options, the penalty points were no longer necessary," they said in a statement.
"The Grand Prix penalty points are now withdrawn from the list of penalties."
As a result, all existing points have been removed as the paddock prepare for the second race weekend in Argentina on April 9.