Francesco Bagnaia says the new front tyre pressure rules are making it very difficult to overtake in MotoGP.
The reigning world champion currently leads the MotoGP standings despite seeing his advantage carved into by Jorge Martin following his double win at Misano.
Martin led every lap of the sprint before doing the same during the 27-lap grand prix.
Much of this was down to Martin having the best pace of anyone, however, Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi both had the potential to challenge Martin early on before seeing their front tyre pressures rise.
Discussing the lack of overtaking, Bagnaia said: “For me it’s also about the new regulation about the front pressure which doesn’t allow us to overtake.
“When you are close to overtaking, four or five laps later your front pressure is too high and you can’t make an attempt.
“If you risk too much you start to lose the front a lot and it’s more risky. The new regulation for the front pressure is a bit of a disaster for those kinds of things.
“Also, with this kind of pace it was not helping to make an overtake. Jorge was doing an incredible job out of fast corners.”
After the British GP the rule was mandated which meant riders had to run a minimum pressure of 1.8 bar in the front.
But as expected when following other riders, the pressures fluctuate which can make it easier to crash.
Bagnaia admitted this, saying: “It’s very easy to lose a front. And in conditions like [in the grand prix] in a track like Misano, where you brake a lot, the front pressure can be a really big limit.
“But it’s what we have. So, we have to understand better where to improve on that.
“We have to predict better what will happen in the race, because if you are in front a lot you have to do one thing for the race; if you are behind, you have to do another thing.
“So, it changes a lot, but this rule doesn’t make our sport safer for sure.”
Keyword: MotoGP: Francesco Bagnaia: “New front pressure regulation is a bit of a disaster”