At the MotoGP Americas Grand Prix in Austin, Marc Marquez triggered chaos before the race started. With rain already posing challenges, Marquez sprinted off the grid just minutes before lights out to switch to a bike with slick tires. His move led to ten other riders following the same, causing massive chaos on the grid and a delayed and confusing start. Since then, MotoGP has been working to come up with a new rule regarding leaving the grid, and it looks like the MotoGP rule is now here.
The sudden switch by Marquez and others disrupted the start and penalised riders who had originally made the correct tire choice. Race Direction, led by Mike Webb, decided to restart the race, which meant everyone could reset their bikes and tire options.
In response, MotoGP has rewritten its rule book and passed a new MotoGP rule that will be effective immediately from the Grand Prix de France. Any rider who leaves the grid or fails to go to the grid before the start will receive an immediate penalty, regardless of the reason.
MotoGP Race Director Explains New MotoGP Rule
Mike Webb explained the new MotoGP rules and said, “The only penalty is for leaving the grid. That’s it. It doesn’t matter the reason for leaving the grid. Any reason for leaving the grid, or not going to the grid in the first place, is treated exactly the same. To put it into context, the new regulations compared to the old, what happened in COTA with Marquez and many riders leaving the grid… Under the old regulations, we would need to know exactly which tyres they had on the warm-up lap and which bike they were using. Some riders would have a ride-through penalty, and some wouldn’t. The riders on the grid would have no penalty.”
“In the new regulations, it is very simple. Any rider that left the grid would start the warm-up lap from pit lane, take their original grid position, then serve a double-long lap. We did not have to identify which bike they were using, which tyres, or which bike setting. It’s the same penalty, the same procedure, regardless of those technical questions. The good part of the simplicity of the rule is that we can apply it to each Grand Prix class,” he added
The new MotoGP rule is expected to prevent future chaos and ensure that no single rider’s actions can disrupt the entire start procedure.
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