Race Direction: Marquez bike swap legal

Images of Marc Marquez's mechanic holding the clutch lever as the Spaniard changed bikes during Sunday's German MotoGP caused some to jump to the wrong conclusion.

A directive issued to teams prior to the event stated that, for safety reasons, the rider must put the second bike into gear himself when he switches machines.

Previously the second bike could be put into gear before the rider arrived, increasing the risk of a pit lane incident during the handover.

Although the mechanic was holding the clutch lever, data confirmed that it had been race winner Marquez who put the bike into gear.

MotoGP race director Mike Webb explained: "Marquez did it in warm-up (pictured) so we went along and [Repsol Honda] said, 'we hold the clutch lever so he can jump on the bike and put it into gear as he goes'.

"So the bike is in neutral when he arrives and they are following exactly the directive that I've given them, which is; the rider puts the bike into gear.

"I asked Danny [Aldridge, technical director] to check the data and confirm that it was in neutral. So I'm happy that the change was fine, they knew what they were doing and knew the rules."

However to avoid having to check data after every bike swap, Webb may now tweak the wording: "Having seen that option I'm considering redoing the regulation to tidy it up. So it will effectively say 'don't hold the clutch'."