Three riders were found to be below the minimum tyre pressure during Saturday’s Valencia MotoGP Sprint, with two of them receiving post-race time penalties.
Fortunately, the trio concerned – Fabio di Giannantonio (6th), Luca Marini (14th) and Franco Morbidelli (15th) – all finished behind title rivals Jorge Martin (1st) and Francesco Bagnaia (5th), meaning the points situation between them remains unchanged heading into Sunday’s world championship showdown.
As a first offence, di Giannantonio, who finished in the wheeltracks of Bagnaia, was given an Official Warning.
But for Marini and Morbidelli it was their second low-pressure offence, meaning a 3-second time penalty. Both were already well outside of the points.
The trio of low-pressure infringements are the first to be seen for a Sprint race, where only 33% of the race laps need to be above the required pressure, increasing fears of further penalties in Sunday’s full-length title decider.
Keyword: Valencia MotoGP: Luca Marini, Franco Morbidelli receive tyre pressure penalties