The start of Sunday’s US MotoGP in Kota fell into chaos as half the grid abandoned its bikes, sprinted into smooth tire pits and forced race delays.
Paul Qualifier Mark Marquez revealed that he caused a stampede when he realized that Wet was the wrong choice, and later gambled over 10 riders following him to delay the start.
This is based on rules brought in after the last grid exit in Argentina in 2018. “For safety, if more than 10 riders start the race from the exit of the pit lane, the start will be delayed and a new start procedure will be carried out.”
However, the warm-up lap had not yet begun, so you are given a step (rain slick) to allow the rider to leave the grid and change the tires. “Start the warm-up lap from the pit lane, take a position on the qualifying grid and get through the penalty in the race.”
Only if the rider iefts the grid behind Warm-up wraps will be needed for them.”Start the race from the pit lane and get over the penalty in the race. ”
The start was officially delayed 13:59’44 or 16 seconds before the warm-up lap began. So perhaps the “10 Rider” rule would not have been activated on Sunday.
Fortunately, for those who bolted off the grid, the scale of chaos meant that racial orientation instead delayed the start on the grounds of “safety concerns.”
“Given the number of riders, bikes and pit staff in the grid and pit lane area, it was impossible to start a warm-up lap.
“The start of the new race was the safest way to deal with unprecedented circumstances at the start of the Grand Prix.”
But it’s the people who have already chosen slicks on the grid – those ready to start in the wet, such as Blood Binder, Enea Bastianini, Aiogra, etc., have been denied the advantage since the reboot was made on the original grid order.
Bagnaia: “We wanted a lot of riders to follow.”
Final race winner Francesco Bagnaia admitted that he was afraid of a penalty when he escaped the grid.
“As soon as I started running, I wanted a lot of riders to continue,” said the Italian, who responded to his teammate Marquez. “I said that, if we were only two people, I think we could get a penalty.
“But after that I saw a lot of riders following from the big screen. So I said, “They don’t have enough time to remove the bike from the grid so it’s not a penalty.”
“In this particular situation, the regulations aren’t clear.”
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Alex Marquez: “That wasn’t fair.”
Runner-up and new title leader Alex Marquez was able to benefit from the delay, but he felt that it was “not fair” for those who remained on the grid and needed to make the rules clearer in the future.
“I think it was really confusing for everyone,” he said. “Like Pecco said, it’s not really clear, so there’s a clear rule. Honestly, I didn’t even know that it was possible! I just followed others.
“If they delay the start just because of chaos, that’s not the right way. If it’s in the rules, you can do it, they need to do it, they need to do it, they need to get better organized.
“Imagine I was with Slick on the grid. It wasn’t fair. Everything needs to be clearer.”
Bagnaia added: “The only ones that were ready were KTM, Binder, ENEA and Truckhouse (Ogura).
Ogura and Trackhouse were frustrated
Rookie Ai Ogura, who finished 9th, was one of the few who made the right phone calls from the start.
“It was a huge opportunity as I was in Slick before the start, but unfortunately they delayed the start. I’m sorry because they made the right choice and it didn’t pay off. That’s a shame, but that’s true,” he said.
Davide Brivio, the boss of the Truck House team, was equally disappointed.
“We were on the right tires, but the other riders left the grid, so we were late to start. We took a risk. We did everything right, but we couldn’t use it.”
As riders and teams remained confused, race director Mike Webb has pledged to reevaluate the regulations.
“We’ll analyze the situation with our team and revisit the regulations,” Webb confirmed.