MotoGP Malaysia: Jorge Martin shrugs off pressure penalty risk, Francesco Bagnaia ‘nobody likes this rule’
As a first offence, Martin’s race re༒sult was not affected in Thailand.
But, as reported, if Martin is below the specified minimums in any of the remaining six ra🏅ces (three Sprints and three GPs) he will now be hit with what could be a title deciding 3-second post-race time 𝄹penalty.
With their margin for error now gone, Pramac is sure to pick conservative s꧅tarting tyre pressures for Martin in the remaining rounds.
But since pressure fluctuates due to factors such as chasing or leading, not to mention the weather, picking the right𝔍 pressure is a complicated task.
Seven other full-time riders🅰 have also breached the minimum since penalties were introduced seven rounds ago in Catalunya, with Aleix Espargaro the first to suffer the +3 penalty for his secondꦺ breach, in Buriram.
The MotoGP rule๊s require minimum tyre pressures, specified by Micheౠlin for safety reasons, to be met for at least 33% of a Sprint race or 50% of a grand prix.
This is to all👍ow for the fact that all riders start on relatively ‘cold’ tyres, and therefore below the spe꧃cified pressure, which should then rise above the minimum once the tyres are up to racing speed.
But if the starting pressure is too high, and the pressure rises too far abov♑e the minimum, a rider will struggle for grip under braking and corner entry, a problem made worse by the heat and dirty air when following other bikes.
After an official warning, penaltiꦅes then escalate to 3, 6 and 12 seconds for each subseq🌠uent offence.
“Yeah, we did this small mistake because for sure, you never want to go under🧜,” Martin said of the official warning. “But at least I got the win and 25 points. So that was the most important thing.
“But my other wins [this year] were with normal pressure. We were so, so close to the limit [in Burir💎am]. I think we just have to work in the same style.”
While manipulating tyre pressure is largely out of a rider’s control during a race, Martin indicated he might deliberately sit in the hot air o🦄f another bike if he receives a low-pressure warning on his dash.
“Maybe if I have some [low pressure] warnings or whatever I will have to be a little bit on the slips😼tream. And that's it.”
That will be a simple o🔴ption if he is not leading, but would prove complicated if he receives a dashboard warning after breaking clear out front…
Meanwhile, Bagnaia, whose advantage over Martin has been cut to just 13 points, is yet to use his ‘joker’ card, meaning the one official 🅰tyre pressure warning before penalties are applied.
That means the #1 can enjoy the performance benefiꦇts of a riskier starting pressure, safe in the knowledge that his race result will not change if he ends up being under for too long.
“We know perfectly how it can🅺 change [performance], being under the limit all the race, because you have a great advantage in terms of braking and entry,” Bagnaia said.
The Italian added that the heat in Malaysia means not having to worry about a pressure time penalty could be useful this weekend, but perhaps even more 🐻so in Qatar next weekend.
“For sure this race maybe is good to have this kind of [joker, warning still available], but I think in Qatar it could be could be better to try to have an advantage on that. Because it's cold. Humidity is qui🎶te high.
“But yeah, it can be a thing that can help us in some🦂 situations.”
Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean he likes the new 'real-time' tyre pressure rules, which are set to get even s🍷tricter next season.
“Nobody likes this rule, absolutely,” Bagnaia said. “[Starting with a higher pressure] can affect your riding style a lot and the safety is quite less, cons꧑idering that if you are upper - like I was in Thailand - it's very, very, very easy to lose th💦e front.
“But in any case, looks also that from next yea꧟r, from the first offence, you are out [disqualified]. You lose the race.
“You don't know how a race 𓃲will go. Maybe you start with the same pressure but in one moment, you have only 1.7 and it's not going up [to the 1ꦑ.9 bar front minimum]. Or you could have it go to 2.2.
“So it's very difficult. My team is doing such an incredible job in terms✨ of remaining coღnstant with the pressure, but it's very difficult.”
Aleix Espargaro quipped that the only good news for Martin after his pressure warning is that he has the speed to win races by more ♓than three seconds anyway.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Va𒁏lentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit 🦋story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
