Jorge Martin demands “review” of rule after long lap penalty in Austria

Jorge Martin accepted the long lap penalty that dropped him out of the victory battle early in the Austrian MotoGP Sprint, but thinks ‘they need to review this rule’.

The Pramac Ducati rider was in the lead when he became embroiled in a braking battle with title rival Francesco Bagnaia as the pair charged towards the chicane, on lap 2 of the Saturday race.

Martin’s rear wheel rose high in the air, forcing him to release the brakes and run wide.

Although he re-joined behind Bagnaia, Martin did not give up the required 1-second (relative to his 'average normal time' through that sector 'as calculated by Race Control') and thus received the long lap.

Dorna clarified that the average time for each rider is "computed from the same race", excluding lap 1, "which is why there was a delay before Martin was issued the long lap". 

'"The [1-second] time they must lose is calculated as the disparity between the sector time when they shortcutted and the average sector time established in the same session.

"The sector by which they must lose 1 second is calculated to allow them to pass at least one intermediate timing point - so they can see an intermediate split time on their dashboard to show how much they have lost/gained and still have time before the next timing point to lose the necessary time."

Motomatters.com quotes Martin as saying: "For sure the regulations are like this, but I thought, ‘OK, I lost time, [because] I was first, now I'm second’. Not because I went wide, I was second because I let him go [ahead],” 

“[The penalty is] fair, because it's in the regulations. But for sure I think they need to review this rule. 

"Because if you lose time and you let another rider pass in a race you lose the show, you lose a nice battle between two top guys."

When reigning champion Bagnaia saw how close Martin was at the end of lap 2, he knew the Spaniard would receive a penalty.

"When the lap finished and I saw that he was 0.3s behind, I said, ‘OK, he will get a penalty’, because he didn't lose 1 second,” explained the reigning double champion.

“For sure, when you cut a chicane, you are already losing time. But rules are rules and they say that if you cut, you have to give back 1 second, and he didn't.”

Martin served the penalty on lap 8 of 14, costing him around 4 seconds and dropping him behind Marc Marquez. But he later regained second place when the Gresini rider crashed out.

Bagnaia and Martin ended Saturday level on points at the summit of the MotoGP championship.

But on Sunday in the grand prix, another Bagnaia victory, followed again by Martin, means the reigning champion left Austria with a five-point lead at the top.