If Maverick Vinales’ spirited and inspiring ride at the Qatar MotoGP proved only one thing, it is that the 16-second penalty for a tyre-pressure infringement is unsporting, bullying and distasteful. Of course, after he was demoted from second to 14th, the extraordinary circumstances proved a great deal more than only that. As follows:
1 – the rule, intended to save riders from straying into dangerous low-pressure territory, is absurd. Vinales was manifestly not in danger. Riders and teams should be able to make up their own minds. They should not be protected from themselves.
2 – KTM, currently beset with bad results, is actually a fully competitive bike, when not hamstrung by vibration and chatter triggered by unsuitable tyre pressure. It even motored past the Ducatis on the straight.
3 – control-tyre supplier Michelin’s inability (or unwillingness) to build a front tyre capable of sustaining the demands of a modern aero-equipped MotoGP bike is a blot on their reputation.
4 – the acceptance of Michelin’s insistence on a punitive tyre-pressure rule by Dorna, IRTA, the GP Commission and the GPMA (manufacturers’ association) is an act of craven cowardice.
5 – the departure of Michelin and the takeover next year by Pirelli is not only timely, but a chance for a vital reset of sporting parameters.
To be fair, another Dorna dumb-down rule plays a part – restricting MotoGP riders’ testing to a handful of days outside race weekends. Time is devoted to improving lap and race times rather than research.
Michelin is therefore hampered in developing new tyres with top riders, whose input is crucial. But it’s only an excuse, for a tyre company with Michelin’s scientific and financial resources. Bridgestone managed to make championship-winning tyres by remote control, sending track data home to engineers in Japan.
Amazingly, Michelin did bring a redesigned front tyre for testing last year, and riders liked it. But planned introduction this year was abruptly cancelled. More testing was apparently required.
The rule exists because Michelin’s front tyre – the construction unchanged for more than a decade, unlike the highly regarded rear – is increasingly overstressed by burgeoning aero and ride-height developments, with harder braking and higher corner speed.
Stress builds heat and pressure, and the profile changes. The result is the contact patch shrinks and grip dwindles. Overheating is worse when following another bike, so teams start races below the minimum pressure to take this into account. But the leader risks failing to build up enough pressure. Vinales’ mistake was leading for six laps in Qatar. He was punished for going too fast!
Michelin worried riders would crash if they ran at too low a pressure. As if the world’s top racers couldn’t be trusted to make their own decisions. The rule-making GP Commission concurred.
Framed in 2022, it was not enforced until late 2023. For 2024, at least the threat of disqualification for repeat offenders was withdrawn.
Last season there were 17 punishments: at Assen, the unedifying sight of Marquez waving another rider past to warm his tyre. As in Thailand again this year. This is not real racing.
It’s time this embarrassing rule was thrown on the scrap heap.
But here’s an interesting theory: that Vinales and his Tech 3 team deliberately ran at an illegally low pressure, knowing he would be penalised. This explains his equanimity when the axe fell. Proving his own and KTM’s speed mattered more than the official result.
So how about taking it a step farther? If every rider ran below minimum pressure, all would be equally penalised. Races would be 16 seconds slower… but results would at least reflect the order they finished.
If Dorna’s governing cohorts aren’t able to sort this out, a rider rebellion might get this silly, demeaning rule canned once and for all. We could call it a Peasants’ Revolt. Or better still, a Pressure Group.
