To close a gray area of the regulations, MotoGP has imposed a minimum front and rear tire pressure that riders must not exceed for at least 30% of a Sprint and 50% of a Grand Prix.
The rule came into force from the British Grand Prix in August, when the new tire pressure management system was installed.
From the start, the riders were dissatisfied with the fact that the minimum forced pressure at the front was set at 1.88 bar (27.26 psi), as it left them little margin to play with before the front became more difficult to manage once above 2.0 bar (29 psi).
Riders have noticed several times how pressure rises quickly when following other bikes, triggering an annoying front lock, while trying to set the right pressure for the type of race you might be doing opens the door to potential penalties.
Martin, who has already received a warning this year for violating the tire pressure rule, believes that drivers cannot “drive at 100%” due to this regulation.
“It’s a shame that you can’t race at 100% because of this rule,” he said during the Malaysian Grand Prix.
“It’s a shame. I don’t know how to say it, but I think this rule… they have to try to understand on our part and try to make the minimum pressure of the front tires lower because in the end we are not seeing real racing.”
“We are seeing technical races, because if my technician gets the tire pressure wrong, I can’t push and I can’t show my potential. I think this year is like that, but next year if you break the limit even just once , you will be disqualified immediately. They have to do something, otherwise next year will be a big disaster.”
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Aleix Espargaro has already been outspoken about this rule, but at Sunday’s Malaysian GP he noted that he has to be more conservative with his pressure settings for fear of receiving a second penalty, after taking a three-second one in Thailand.
“Actually yes, for sure. If I don’t do it, I’ll get a six second penalty and then 12,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com if he started with higher front tire pressures to avoid penalties. “I hate this rule, it will ruin this championship.”
KTM’s Brad Binder believes the rule, introduced for safety reasons, is far from valid and says riders would “appreciate” Michelin lowering the minimum limit.
“The fact is, for me it’s 10 times more dangerous when you go above two bars of pressure,” Binder said. “Honestly, it feels like you could hit someone at any time because you have these huge closures. And when you get to the limit of the tire, you don’t turn.”
“I understand that Michelin says that if the pressure is too low, the tire can come off the rim. But I haven’t seen one yet, and obviously I don’t want to see it. But not just me, I’m sure all the riders would appreciate it if lowered the minimum pressure a little.”
Espargaro noted that riders are constantly raising this point with Michelin and those responsible for MotoGP rules, but so far nothing has been done.
“We do it every single weekend to ask for the minimum front pressure to be lowered; with Michelin, with Piero (Taramasso, boss of Michelin motorsport), with Carlos Ezpeleta and with Carmelo Ezpeleta”.
“Every time we meet we only talk about this. There is no possibility that things will change. I have full faith in Piero, but I have been racing in this championship for 15 years and I have never seen a problem with the front tyre.”
“He told me ‘you were close to exploding the front tire’. Ok, he’s a million times better than me. But I saw the rear tires explode, never the front ones.”
After the Malaysian GP, the two title contenders, Martin and Pecco Bagnaia, now find themselves with a warning each for having raced under the minimum pressure of the front tyres.
This opened the door to the possibility that the championship could be decided in the next two rounds by a penalty.
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