New video footage has arrived, with Mark Marquez meticulously planning the exit of the dramatic Kotamoto Gupgrid with Ducati crew chief Marco Ligamonti.
However, it also reveals that Marquez and Ducati misunderstand the outcome of the penalty – riders’ post-race claims contradict their claims that they implemented a “complete” strategy.
The newly released footage from motogp.com tells a different story.
The eight-time world champion shows he was unaware of the ride-through penalty he received by starting a warm-up lap from the pit lane.
Instead, if the start wasn’t late, Marquez started a warm-up lap from the pit lane on a spare bike, lined up in pole position for the start, then forced to pull in and provide the ride.
Ride-through penalties usually take a rider 25-30 seconds in a race.
“I’ll start at the end, and that’s it.”
On the grid, Marquez is seen discussing his options with Rigamonti.
“You go there (to change bikes) and you get out of the pit lane and you start at the end, right?
“Are you getting a long lap penalty on the grid (last)?”
Rigamonti replies: “Yeah, you’ll start at the end.”
“But (no penalty),” Marquez asks again.
“Yeah,” says Rigamonty.
At this point, Rigamonti hesitates, “I don’t know how it works.”
He then turns to team manager Davide Tardozzi and asks:
“If he (Marquez) wanted to start with the box with a Drying Ik…”
Tardozzi correctly clarify: “He’s going to get over it.”
However, Rigamonti raises doubts about the ruling.
“No, I don’t get into this (bicycle). I just start there and leave this (bicycle on the grid).”
Marquez claims he is confident he will not receive a penalty:
“Yeah, I started last, and that’s it.
“(i) it’s as if you haven’t done the normal starting procedure.”
Rigamonti agrees with Marquez: “He will start at the end.”
Rigamonti then explains the results of changing the bike rear It’s a warm-up wrap, but it doesn’t mention the ride-through penalty that also applies to that scenario.
“Or he does a warm-up lap on this bike, enter the pit lane and starts from the pit lane.”
Tardozzi is not inconsistent with these statements.
Marc Marquez, 2025 Americas Motogp Grid
Marquez gives his heart a message to Rigamonti to make sure the second bike is ready, making sure he has an accurate plan.
“If there is three minutes left, if it is (dry), the mechanic will go back into the pit.
“Please let me know when your bike is ready.”
Then he puts his hand over Marco Rigamonti’s ear, and Marquez says, “Don’t tell anyone.”
After making sure his second bike was ready, Marquez said: “Let’s go for a plan.”
Rigamonti asks:
Marquez shuts down the idea: “No, when there’s three minutes left, I’ll go.”
The footage ends with Marquez sprinting from the grid to the Ducati Garage, causing about half of the grid to copy the tactics.
Start COTA’s 2025 Americas MotoGP
Race Director: “They were very lucky to get away with it.”
Race Director Mike Webb is then interviewed to make sure that rules are in place to punish such moves – if the start wasn’t late due to safety concerns.
“We had a similar situation in Argentina in 2018. We came together and rewrite the rules and made sure anyone who left the grid and changed the type of tire on a bicycle would get a penalty.
“So, if there weren’t any confusion that made me carry out a new start procedure — if we could have continued, riders who got spare bikes in the pit lane with different tires would have overcome the penalty in the race.”
Referring to the new footage, Webb adds: “It appears that Marquez’s team didn’t expect a ride, and they probably expected to start from the pit lane or the back of the grid.
“No, the rule of changing the tires like that is to take the original grid position after the warm-up (lap) and ride the race.
“In the way that happened (on Sunday) there was so much bike and so many such confusion to get rid of bikes and people off the grid, I called for a new start (for safety).
Marquez initially benefited from reopening by changing pole position to race lead at Dry Ik, but he crashed on lap 9.
Teammate and ultimate winner Franceco Bagnaia, along with fellow podium finishers Alex Marquez and Fabio di Giannantonio, had mimicked Marquez by returning to the pits and causing a delay in starting.
Only three riders, Brad Binder, Enea Bastianini and Ai Ogura, chose the dry tire correctly for the original grid.
Speaking after the race, Mark Marquez also mistakenly believed that he could drive the delayed start off the grid “if more than 10 riders are following me.”
“I said (to Rigamonty) ‘OK, maybe I’ll leave the grid.’ Because I knew if more than 10 riders were following me, I would be slow to start and everyone would reboot on the grid.
“So I tried to force it. Everyone follows me because like this everyone resumed with slicks and the race was at the point I like.”
However, that rule only applies if more than 10 riders start the race from the exit of the pit lane, for example by pitting at the end of a warm-up lap.
Sunday’s race was officially delayed 16 seconds before the start of the warm-up lap.