The Grand Prix Commission, composed of Messrs. Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna, Chairman), Ignacio Verneda (FIM CEO), Herve Poncharal (IRTA) and Takanao Tsubouchi (MSMA), in the presence of Vito Ipollito (FIM President), Javier Alonso (Dorna) and Mike Trimby (IRTA, Meeting Secretary) made some decisions on April 23, 2016 in Jerez.
Two of these are quite interesting.
Following the disparate penalties inflicted on different drivers following the false starts in Moto2 in Qatar, the sanctions will now be adapted to the characteristics of each circuit.
Sports regulations, with immediate effect
Penalties for false start
In the event that the organizers were unable to impose a ride through penalty on a driver during the race, the latter will be imposed a time penalty.
The penalty will be decided by Race Direction based on the time usually lost during a ride through on the circuit where the race takes place. This information will be communicated before the race.
For practical reasons, it was decided to waive the need to notify all early departures during the first four rounds. The Race Direction must, however, warn the teams and drivers as soon as possible.
Furthermore, pressure sensors integrated into the rims will be compulsory from Mugello onwards. This is to clarify the situation as to whether or not some teams are playing with the pressure to increase grip. These suspicions arose following incidents encountered by Michelin tires on certain Ducatis…
Technical regulations
Tire pressure sensors – MotoGP™ category – Effective from May 20, 2016
The use of approved pressure sensors on both wheels of prototypes in the MotoGP™ category will be mandatory this year from the Italian GP.
