Marquez penalised for tyre pressure infringement in Assen MotoGP race

Marc Marquez has been hit with a penalty for a tyre pressure rule infraction in the MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix, dropping him to 10th.

Under the current rules, riders must race for 30% of a sprint and 60% of a grand prix within the minimum tyre pressures – which for the front is 1.8 bar (26.1psi).

Marquez fell foul of this limit in Sunday’s Assen race and has been hit with an 18-second time penalty, dropping him from fourth to 10th behind Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.

The Gresini Ducati rider spent the entirety of the 26-lap Assen grand prix battling for the final podium place, which ultimately went to factory Ducati counterpart Enea Bastianini.

Marquez moved up to third on lap two after overtaking Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales at Turn 5 and ran in that position until an odd moment on the eighth tour.

Exiting Turn 8, Marquez looked behind him and appeared to point to the inside of Turn 9 in a message to VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio for where to overtake.

Marquez didn’t drop away from Di Giannantonio, leading to speculation that his front tyre pressure was lower than the rules permitted and he needed dirty air ahead to bring the temperature back up.

The new race top 10 is now:

1. Francesco Bagnaia
2. Jorge Martin
3. Enea Bastianini
4. Fabio Di Giannantonio
5. Maverick Vinales
6. Brad Binder
7. Alex Marquez
8. Raul Fernandez
9. Franco Morbidelli
10. Marc Marquez

Marquez’s is the first significant tyre pressure penalty since the sprint race at the Spanish GP, when Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo lost a podium.

Four other riders in that Jerez sprint were hit with tyre pressure penalties, stemming from the fact they found themselves in clear air for longer than expected due to a high rate of crashing.

Given the sensitivity of tyres when exposed to dirty air and the fact that once pressure gets to around 2.1 bar and above grip becomes an issue, crews face a difficult task in guessing where their rider will be in races when setting the psi.

A rule introduced last year, for 2024 Michelin lowered the minimum front pressure from 1.88 bar to 1.8 after riders complained the old limit was dangerous.

For 2024, riders were set to be disqualified whenever they were found to have breached the tyre pressure rule. But this was softened ahead of the season to 8s for an infraction in a sprint and 16s for a grand prix.