If the original Cota MotoGP start went ahead, Francesco Bagnaia believes he would have been in a much better penalty situation compared to rivals Mark and Alex Marquez.
Bagnaia and Alex were among many who followed Mark’s footsteps as they drastically dumped their wet bikes on the grid and ran into the pit lane for a dry machine.
Like most riders and team members, Marquez didn’t realize his actions would lead to a ride-through penalty.
However, no punishment was ultimately applied as the start was delayed on safety grounds due to chaos – in particular, a new “quickstart” procedure was launched, with team members and guests trapped between the track and bike along the pit lane.
The three riders most obviously lost due to the delay were those ready to start with the slick grid: Enea Bastianini, Brad Binder and Ai Ogura.
On the other hand, those who escaped the grid should face the following:
“If you leave the grid and change the tire type before the warm-up lap (rain slick), you will start the warm-up lap from the pit lane, take the qualifying grid position and get through the race penalty.”
However, in Qatar, Bagnaia revealed on Thursday that he also revealed he would escape the ride-through penalty.
That’s due to the asterisk The rules you define are “Change the type of tire” As:
“Compared to the tires used in the sighting lap (if another bike is used to start the race).”
Bagnaia revealed that she had used slick tires for Cota’s sighting laps and switched to wet tires on the grid.
So he was leaving the grid to change bikes (which means there is less start penalty behind the grid), but he hadn’t changed the type of tire compared to the tires on the sighting lap.
“From me it was the perfect scenario to see either Mark or Alex go from the grid because I was the only one (our) who wasn’t riding if the rules were applied,” Bagnaia said.
“I would have to start from behind the grid because I did sighting laps on smooth tires, so I would just have to start.
“I had already got the right tires (on the sighting lap) so I didn’t have to ride them in the race.
“So, if the rules were applied, I was in a better scenario compared to them.
“But then, Chaos was there and they decided to put on a red flag.”
Bagnaia supported the decision to direct races to stop the start.
“It was certainly the best, and it was the best considering that the track might not have been ready to smooth out.
“But in the normal (start) situation, I had a better scenario compared to them.”
Bagnaia won the restart after Mark Marquez crashed from the lead. Alex Marquez took over in another second place at the top of the World Championships.
Ahead of the Qatar event this weekend, MotoGP announced:
“After an unprecedented situation occurred at the start of Americas GP, and after the quick start procedure was implemented due to safety concerns, MotoGP is working with the team to revisit the regulations.”