“I was very clear about the regulation. It is our task to be clear about the regulation, it is our task not only to go quickly, but to have everything controlled,” said Marc Márquez when talking about the race he got leaving his motorcycle on the grill looking for his second mount in his box. “I preferred to leave last than to change motorcycle,” he added.
All because he thought that doing this, if they didn’t follow him more than nine pilots, he would leave from the ‘Pit Lane’, last. A Video de MotoGP.com revealing revealed how he planned everything, with his technical boss, Marco Rigamonti, and also involving Davide Tardazzi, the team leader. However, it was not as they thought.
Conversations in a low voice
In the video, Marc is seen talking to ‘Riga’, as his coach calls. He consults him to go to box. “If I go there and go from the ‘Pit Lane’, I start last, right? Last on a grill and without penalty?” He asks. “Yes, you start last,” replies the engineer. “But without penalty?” Reiterates Cervera. This makes Rigamonti doubt, who goes to late. “If he wants to leave from the box, with the motorcycle of dry …”, he tells him. The Expileto is resounding: “He receives a Through Ride (step by the ‘Pit Lane’).”
Marc, on a grill in Austin.duati
The technical chief interprets that not putting a mount in the boxing lane should not be punished and expresses it. “No, without entering with this motorcycle. Go out from there and simply leave this motorcycle on the grill,” he says. Tardazzi Calla and the greatest of the Márquez nods. “I start last and that’s it. It will be as if I had not done the normal exit procedure,” he certifies. ‘Riga’ takes it for granted: “Start last.”
Later, Rigamonti begins to doubt. “Or it turns up with this motorcycle and then enters boxes, then it will leave from the ‘Pit Lane’,” says.
Marc’s secrets
But 93 has already designed its tactic and exposes it to Italian. “When there are three minutes, if it is dry as now, we leave. The mechanics return to the box and I leave,” he says. And it whispers: “Don’t tell anyone.” Rigamonti ensures that the second machine is ready and Marc is completely launched: “We go with the plan.” The technician replies: “‘flag to’ flag ‘(motorcycle change in the race)?” And Marc clarifies it resoundingly: “No, when there are three minutes, I’m leaving.” Indeed, it does, but they copy many more, so the career address takes the red flag “for security”.
Mike Webb’s clarifications
In that video, in the second part, Mike Webb, the career director, contradicts the ‘ducatists’. “We had a similar situation in Argentina 2018. We rewrite the rules to ensure that anyone who changes the type of tires leaving the grill receives a penalty,” he says.
The British confirms that they would have punished Marc, and the rest that he had left from the ‘Pit Lane’ if they had not stopped the exit. “If we could continue normally, the pilots who went for their second motorcycle with different tires would have been penalized,” he proclaims.
English is overwhelming. “It seems that Márquez’s team did not expect a ‘Ride Through’, perhaps they thought they would simply come out from the ‘Pit Lane’ or the bottom of the grill. But the rule says that if you change tires that way, you must return to your original position after the warm -up and fulfill a ‘Through Ride’,” he says.
Webb leaves a conclusion. “As happened on Sunday, with so many motorcycles and so much confusion to get people out of the grill, I decided to activate a new exit procedure. They were very lucky to get unpunished,” he closes.