Marc Marquez receives Assen MotoGP post-race penalty

Marc Marquez has lost fourth place in the Dutch MotoGP due to a post-race penalty for low tyre pressure.

With Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin soon escaping out front, Marquez was seen waving Fabio di Giannantonio past to lead a group of riders fighting for third on lap 8 of 26.

Marquez’s actions were presumably due to fears that he would be under pressure unless he followed another rider for a large part of the race.

Revised tyre pressure rules for 2024 mean riders must stay above a front minimum of 1.8 bar for 60% of a Grand Prix distance or face a 16-second post-race time penalty.

Despite then remaining in the podium battle until the closing stages of the grand prix, Marquez failed to reach the minimum number of ‘legal’ laps.

It is thought that Marquez and Gresini might have tried to argue that Enea Bastianini’s turn one pass on the #93, which caused Marquez to sit up and run wide on lap 21, was a mitigating circumstance that contributed to the Spaniard falling below the 60% threshold.

Some riders also spoke of the wind causing an unexpected loss of tyre temperature during the grand prix, which was held in an air temperature 3 degrees lower than the Saturday Sprint and a track temperature 10 degrees lower.

Ultimately, Marquez was ruled to have been running a front tyre pressure 'lower than the parameters advised by the official supplier' and the FIM Stewards duly applied the standard 16-second penalty.

That penalty drops Marquez from fourth to tenth in the Assen classification, also meaning the loss of 7 world championship points.