MotoGP start procedure rule change: As seen at the French Grand Prix

Written by Isha Reshmi Mohan, Edited by Gabriel Tsui

Credit: @HondaRacingGLB via X

If you were wondering what the rule change was after Marc Márquez's infamous run to the pits at COTA, the timing was perfect, as we got to see it in action at Le Mans.

What happened at COTA? 

Moments before the race started at COTA toward the end of March, Márquez ran into the pits just before lights out to switch to slick tyres.

There were various explanations about what happened and whether the team was aware of Márquez’s plan. It was later revealed that only his team of engineers knew of his plan and was prepared to take a penalty to make the change.

Other riders, unsure of what was happening, chose to follow Márquez while Maverick Viñales, who did not want to leave the grid, experienced a miscommunication with his team as they took his bike away, leaving him stranded on the grid before the red flag was shown to abort start anyway. 

With journalists and fans dissecting the rulebook to point out contradictions in what happened, race direction stood by the decision to call a red flag on the grounds of safety. This highlighted the need to close the loophole quickly before it could be exploited further.

Marc Márquez himself admitted that he expected at least 10 other riders to follow him, which would lead to an aborted start. While he did leave to change tyres and followed the rules as they stood, prepared to serve a penalty, the situation was ultimately deemed unsafe by all means.

Official rule change 

In the following month, a rule change was implemented, and we were fortunate to see it in action once again, moments before the race start at Le Mans amid uncertainty over whether it would be a wet race.

The rule change came into effect on May 6th, alongside an update to the testing regulations for riders recovering from injury, referencing Jorge Martín, as Aprilia had requested a test session for the world champion ahead of his return to the grid.

Regarding the start procedure, the rule now states that there will be a penalty for riders who leave or fail to join the grid no matter what the situation is. Previously, penalties applied only to riders who left the grid for technical issues or changed their tyres for weather-related reasons before the race start.

If a rider leaves the grid, they will start the race from their qualifying position after beginning their warm-up lap from the pit lane, and they will also serve a long-lap penalty. If a rider misses the warm-up lap, they must start the race from the pit lane.

MotoGP’s statement explains that this decision was made because there is no way to determine whether a rider leaves for genuine technical reasons, so the same penalty applies in all cases of leaving or not joining the grid. This approach is also fair to riders who have followed all the rules.

The time-delay penalty and the 10-rider limit for starting from the pit lane remains unchanged, although these do not apply to the warm-up lap.

As seen at Le Mans 

Right before the sighting lap, there were speculations on whether it would become a wet race, and there was a clear expectation of a red flag. The red flag was shown as all the riders made their way to the pits to change tyres, delaying the race start to 15:08 local time.

But despite the wet race declaration, the rain began to ease, forcing riders to quickly decide whether to swap bikes or take a chance on wet tyres. As fewer than 10 riders returned to the pits during the sighting lap, we saw the new rules in effect, with those riders starting their warm-up lap from the pit lane and rejoining the grid in their qualifying positions. Under the new rules, riders coming from the pit lane must serve two long-laps.

The race saw plenty of rain and crashes throughout, along with an iconic win from Johann Zarco, who recovered from an early crash to become the first French rider to win at home since 1954.