There’s a better way to punish riders who break MotoGP’s hated tyre-pressure rule
MotoGP’s minimum pressure rule isn’t only arbitrary, it could also have an unexpected effect on the championship outcome. Luckily, there’s an easy fix…
Combined times from the MotoGP test on November 28-29 at Jerez
Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami set the fastest overall time in MotoGP testing at Jerez on November 29. The LCR Honda Idemitsu rider did so on Cal Crutchlow’s 2018 motorcycle, finishing 0.025sec faster than Marc Márquez.
Jorge Lorenzo was 0.135sec slower than his team-mate but still “mightily fast” according to Mat Oxley.
Read more: The FUBAR Ducati and other Jerez stories
Franco Morbidelli was marginally slower than fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Viñales, while Valentino Rossi was 11th-fastest overall. Rossi split with rider coach Luca Cadalora after the test. Cadalora and Rossi have worked together since 2016.
Álvaro Bautista replaced full-time test rider Michele Pirro (recovering from surgery) to finish 13th over the two days on his Ducati.
KTM pair Pol Espargaró and Johann Zarco finished 17th and 19th, respectively.
Position | Rider | Day 1 time | Day 2 time | Bike |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Takaaki Nakagami | 1min38.348sec | 1min37.945sec | Honda |
2 | Danilo Petrucci | 1min37.968sec | 1min38.109sec | Ducati |
3 | Marc Márquez | 1min38.517sec | 1min37.970sec | Honda |
4 | Maverick Viñales | 1min38.376sec | 1min38.066sec | Yamaha |
5 | Jorge Lorenzo | 1min38.749sec | 1min38.105sec | Honda |
6 | Franco Morbidelli | 1min38.659sec | 1min38.118sec | Yamaha |
7 | Andrea Dovizioso | 1min38.185sec | 1min38.292sec | Ducati |
8 | Jack Miller | 1min38.816sec | 1min38.207sec | Ducati |
9 | Francesco Bagnaia | 1min39.157sec | 1min38.333sec | Ducati |
10 | Alex Rins | 1min39.150sec | 1min38.522sec | Suzuki |
11 | Valentino Rossi | 1min39.564sec | 1min38.596sec | Yamaha |
12 | Fabio Quartararo | 1min39.414sec | 1min38.761sec | Yamaha |
13 | Álvaro Bautista | 1min38.830sec | 1min39.338sec | Ducati |
14 | Tito Rabat | 1min39.097sec | 1min38.876sec | Ducati |
15 | Joan Mir | 1min38.956sec | 1min38.931sec | Suzuki |
16 | Andrea Iannone | 1min39.008sec | 1min39.826sec | Aprilia |
17 | Pol Espargaró | 1min39.241sec | 1min39.144sec | KTM |
18 | Karel Abraham | 1min40.438sec | 1min39.744sec | Ducati |
19 | Johann Zarco | 1min40.192sec | 1min39.864sec | KTM |
20 | Aleix Espargaró | – | 1min40.156sec | Aprilia |
21 | Bradley Smith | 1min40.174sec | 1min40.325sec | Aprilia |
22 | Sylvain Guintoli | 1min40.743sec | 1min40.498sec | Suzuki |
23 | Hafizh Syahrin | 1min40.630sec | 1min40.520sec | KTM |
24 | Miguel Oliveira | 1min41.699sec | 1min40.577sec | KTM |
25 | Matteo Baiocco | 1min42.766sec | 1min41.907sec | Aprilia |
MotoGP’s minimum pressure rule isn’t only arbitrary, it could also have an unexpected effect on the championship outcome. Luckily, there’s an easy fix…
Quartararo tested a more powerful Yamaha engine, which he may race next week at Le Mans, Aprilia evaluated new seat aero, Honda tried MotoGP's first chassis parts incorporating ground-effect elements and Ducati worked on the problem that's hampering its factory riders
There was hardly a dry eye in the house when Alex Márquez swept to his first MotoGP victory at sold-out Jerez on Sunday, but there were plenty of worried faces in the factory Ducati garage. Why so?
MotoGP has never had a more unpopular technical regulation than its tyre-pressure rule, which robbed Maverick Viñales of a podium finish in last week's Qatar GP. But that's just one of many dozens of new rules over the past two decades – so what's the story?