Valencia MotoGP: Luca Marini, Franco Morbidelli receive tyre pressure penalties

Three riders were found to be below the minimum front tyre pressure during Saturday's Valencia MotoGP Sprint, with two of them receiving post-race time penalties.
Franco Morbidelli, MotoGP tissot sprint race, Valencia MotoGP, 25 November
Franco Morbidelli, MotoGP tissot sprint race, Valencia MotoGP, 25 November

Fortunately, the trio concerned - Fabio di Giannantonio (6th), Luca Marini (14th) and Franco Morbidelli (15th) - alꦍl finished behind title rivals Jorge Martin (1st) and Francesco Bagnaia (5th).

The 14-point differe♏nce between Bagnaia and Martin thus remains u🔯nchanged heading into Sunday's world championship showdown.

As a first offence, 🙈di Giannantonio (who finished in the wheeltracks of Bagnaia) was given only an ꦡOfficial 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 th꧟e points, but Marini will now drop to 17th and Morbidelli 18th.

The trio of low-pressure infringements are the first in a Sp⭕rint race, where only 33% of the race laps need to be above♛ the required pressure threshold, increasing fears of further penalties in Sunday's full-length title decider.

Of the 21 riders on the grid only Fabio Quartararo, Takaaki Nakagami,&n🍸bsp;Brad Binder, Alex Rins and Lorenzo Savadori are yet to use their Official Warning 'joker'.

Those fi🌟ve are th✃erefore the only riders guaranteed not to lose any positions due to tyre pressure infringements on Sunday (and could start the race deliberately low).

The other 16 riders on Sunday's grid, including Bagnaia and Martin, would either receive a 3-second penalty for a second offence or - in the case of Aleix Espargaro, Morbidelli and Marini - a 6-second sanction for a third♑ o🙈ffence.

To be guaranteed of at least keeping their finishing position regardless of&n𒉰bsp;tyre pressure checks on Sunday, Martin and Bagnaia need to cross the line at least 3 seconds ahead of the rider behind, to absorb any potential penalty.

But the championship outcome could also change if any rider ahead of Ba💜gnaia or Martin receives a post-race penalty big enough to drop the🍒m behind either of the title rivals on the revised results.

For exampl🐭e, if Martin wins and Bagnaia is sixth, Martin will take the title... But if any rider less than 3 seconds ahead of Bagnaia then receives a 3-second penalty, Bagnaia would move up one place and retain his crown.

From the start of next season, any breach♔ of the tyre pressure rules will result in disqualification.

Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the ꦦSuzuki exit sಌtory and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.

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