Marc Marquez Accepts Penalty, Attributes Incident with Bastianini as Contributing Factor in Dutch MotoGP

Marc Marquez "acknowledges" penalty, "but collision with Bastianini contributed"

Marc Marquez "acknowledges" a 16-second post-race penalty at the Dutch MotoGP, stating that "the collision with Bastianini definitely contributed."

Marc Marquez mentioned that he acknowledges the 16-second penalty imposed on him after the race for not maintaining the required tyre pressure during the Dutch MotoGP on Sunday.

The Gresini rider became aware that he risked running at lower speeds for an extended period in the cooler temperatures of Sunday. This concern prompted him to allow Fabio di Giannantonio to overtake him and take third place during the eighth lap of the 26-lap race.

As Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin pulled ahead, Marquez aimed to trail another competitor instead of heading the group in open air, with the intention of increasing his front tire pressure for the necessary 60% of the race distance.

The strategy might have succeeded if not for a late maneuver and collision by Enea Bastianini, which forced Marquez off course at Turn 1 during the 21st lap. This incident led to a decrease in his front tire pressure as he re-entered the track and regained momentum.

Rider #93 anticipated that Bastianini would receive a penalty requiring him to drop one position for the maneuver.

The Gresini team reportedly argued before the FIM Stewards that another rider’s aggressive behavior led to Marquez not completing the required 60% of the laps under legal pressure. However, at this time, no mitigating circumstances are being accepted.

Consequently, Marquez, who had an accident on the second lap of the Saturday Sprint, was handed an automatic 16-second penalty. This penalty demoted him from fourth to tenth place in the rankings and resulted in a loss of seven world championship points.

“We regret to say that we are slightly outside the required tyre pressure limits, so we will accept the penalty,” Marquez stated.

"It's quite unfortunate that we're leaving with so few points; we had the potential to secure two fourth-place finishes, but…"

"The incident with Bastianini definitely had an impact, but we're not making excuses. Up until that point, I was managing the tyre pressure effectively."

"Let's conclude this weekend and shift our attention to Germany."

Frankie Carchedi, the crew chief for Marquez, posted on X saying: "We missed out by 0.01 for one lap, but we have the data to explain why the readings were lower than expected."

In an interview with Crash.net back in February, Carchedi had also predicted a low-pressure situation if a rider were to go off the track.

Carchedi mentioned during the Sepang test that it is always impressive to witness a rider making a comeback through the field after having fallen behind.

“If a driver has an accident or leaves the track, their tyre pressure will come under scrutiny. Even if they have an outstanding race and make remarkable progress, they could still face disqualification at the finish.”

"People will probably develop alarms and signal lights to alert cyclists when their energy is running low during a race. However, what are the options at that point? Just abruptly reduce speed and allow others to pass?"

"You never want to witness such things. Everyone is addressing the situation, and I am hopeful a solution will emerge."

The initially proposed penalty for low tire pressure in 2024, which was disqualification, has been replaced with a 16-second penalty (reduced to 8 seconds for a Sprint).

The issue of a rider not completing 60% of the required laps due to veering off the track or crashing, particularly when caused by another competitor's actions, remains unresolved.

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