Explained: Why Marc Marquez avoided a tyre pressure penalty in Czech MotoGP sprint

MotoGP has explained why Marc Marquez did not get a penalty following a tyre pressure investigation at the Czech Grand Prix sprint.

The championship leader hit the front from second on the grid in the opening lap of Saturday’s sprint at Brno and was on course for a dominant victory.

But on the sixth lap of 10, Marc Marquez pulled to one side to allow KTM’s Pedro Acosta into the lead just a tour after Ducati team-mate Pecco Bagnaia had purposely dropped out of second position.

This was down to a tyre pressure warning being received by both riders, requiring them to get heat on their front Michelin rubber in order to get back within the 1.8 bar minimum for 60% of the sprint distance necessitated by the rules.

Marquez would overtake Acosta again on the last lap to win the sprint, but was instantly placed under investigation for his tyre pressures - threatening an eight-second penalty, which would have dropped him to 14th.

But just after the podium celebrations, a message was issued stating that no further action was required by the FIM stewards on Marquez, as well as Ai Ogura and Alex Rins.

MotoGP has now issued an explanation as to why the investigation was dropped, citing an error in race direction's own tyre pressure monitoring system.

The full statement read: “The post-race investigation into the tyre pressures for riders #93, #42 and #79 quickly revealed an incorrect minimum pressure setting in the Race Direction warning system.

“Therefore no further action nor investigation was necessary. All riders complied with the correct minimum pressure.

“This control system is separate to any warning system used by teams and is not visible to teams or riders during the session.

“Each team controls their own parameters and the warnings sent their riders’ dashboards regarding minimum tyre pressures.”

Marquez was already confident after the sprint that he had gotten his front tyre pressure back into the legal window prior to the chequered flag.

His win on Saturday has now boosted him 95 points clear in the standings.

Team-mate Bagnaia also got his tyre into the legal limit but finished seventh after dropping out of second.