Bagnaia-Martin, it’s now (also) a matter of pressure

As well as managing the pressure of the race in Qatar and Valencia, Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin will also need to manage the tyre pressure! In Malaysia Francesco Bagnaia was found to have pressure below the minimum threshold set by Michelin, an infraction that, if repeated at the next rounds, would lead to a time penalty in the race.

 The pressure makes the difference

So it’s one-all in terms of warnings for the two MotoGP title contenders. The minimum tyre pressure rule was brought in at Silverstone, with riders receiving a first warning and then a 3-second time penalty if they repeat the infraction. Aleix Espargaró was the first to be penalised, in the Thai GP, his fifth place finish becoming eighth place shortly after the race.

None of the riders are happy about this situation, with almost everyone having complained throughout the season as to how their race has been conditioned by an excessive increase in front tyre pressure that makes it almost impossible to ride. Jorge Martin brought it up again at the end of the Sepang Sprint race: “I don’t honestly see the point of this rule, as it doesn’t allow the riders to show their potential, which I don’t see as a good thing moving forward”.

 Strategy might not be enough

With just 14 points separating Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin and 64 still on the table over the next ten days, every point is crucial. Both title contenders, and their teams, need to avoid mistakes and take care to manage the front tyre pressure. At the end of the Sepang race, Luca Marini confirmed that he too had received a warning for having fallen below the limit set by Michelin, the ‘clean’ air effectively lowering his tyre pressure after he found himself riding alone during the final stages of the race. A very important factor that teams will have to consider, especially in Qatar where the air and track temperatures drop dramatically as the race goes on and night falls.

The riders will probably be forced to start with very high pressure at the start of the race then, not knowing how their race will then develop. As was the case for the Spaniard in the Sprint, forced to catch up from fourth after making a bad start: “You have to start with a clear strategy, so being fourth early on left me in difficulty, as that wasn’t part of my plan”. He went on to joke: “Perhaps tomorrow I’ll start with a pressure than can be good for fourth position”.

 A MotoGP decided by the ‘refs’

Aside from Aleix Espargaró who has already committed two infractions and received a 3” penalty, which becomes 6” if it happens again, warnings have now been handed to the two title contenders but also Marco Bezzecchi, Marc Marquez, Enea Bastianini, Luca Marini, Maverick Vinales, Franco Morbidelli, Raul Fernandez, wildcards Dani Pedrosa and Alvaro Bautista, and Iker Lecuona. If any of them repeat the infraction, they will receive a 3” penalty that will be added to their race time.

How much of an effect can this have on the title fight? Well, considering that Pecco and Jorge are separated by just 14 points, every point is crucial. If we look back at last year’s results at Lusail and Valencia and consider a three-second penalty for the respective winners, in both cases the winner would drop to fourth, losing 12 points in the process. With only two races and two Sprints to go, losing or gaining 12 points for an infraction of just 0.1 bar would come as a huge blow to Bagnaia or Martin’s championship fight. The title fight looks likely to go to Valencia, but before celebrating at the end of the race, riders might find themselves waiting for race direction to confirm the results after checking that all riders have respected the minimum tyre pressure.