Tire pressure was a sword of Damocles on Pedro Acosta’s race, who was then able to breathe a sigh of relief. The Spaniard, initially under investigation, was pardoned because a sensor fault was detected on his KTM. Brad Binder and Takaaki Nakagami also ended up under the magnifying glass of Race Direction, again for the same reason.
The time taken to confirm or deny the penalties was longer than expected, with the technicians concentrating on checking for any anomalies. Like Acosta, the same problem was detected on Brad Binder’s RC16, which emerged unscathed from the Indonesian Grand Prix.
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The one who couldn’t avoid the penalty was Takaaki Nakagami. Race Direction announced that 16 seconds were deducted from his race time because the front tire pressure was lower than the minimum allowed. Little changes in terms of ranking for the LCR driver, who had crossed the finish line in 11th and penultimate position and is now behind Alex Rins, who closed the group in 12th place.
The Japanese driver from the LCR team is only the latest to have received a penalty for tire pressure: this year many other drivers have faced a sanction at the end of the race and, starting from 2024, the irregularities are detected almost in real time thanks to the sensor which greatly facilitates the calculation of pressures.
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