“The racing will be different, strange we didn't see it until now”

Marc Marquez and Fabio di Giannantonio backing off and allowing others to pass to control their tyre temperature and pressure during the Dutch MotoGP was not a freak occurrence.

Instead, “we will see many, many more episodes of this” according to di Giannantonio, who added  “it's quite strange that we didn't see it until now.”

All MotoGP riders are now thought to have some kind of dashboard warning to alert them if they are not on course to meet the minimum specified tyre pressures.

That requires pressures to be above the minimum set by Michelin (most crucially 1.8 bar for the front) for at least 30% of the laps during a Sprint race or 60% of a grand prix.

If a rider is in danger of failing to meet those figures, usually due to riding in clean air when their team predicted being tucked up behind another bike, a message is sent informing them of the need to find a slipstream.

In other words, let a bike behind overtake and then follow it closely, to increase front tyre temperature and pressure in the dirty air.

Marc Marquez did just that but was still caught out and hit by the automatic 16-second post-race penalty, when he was nudged off track by Enea Bastianini, allowing his tyres to cool slightly and lose pressure.

“When you ride, you need the lowest pressure possible to go fast, but you have a big variation in temperature and pressure when you are alone or behind other riders,” said di Giannantonio, who benefitted from Marquez’s penalty and another for Maverick Vinales to claim fourth place at Assen.

“So I think with this rule, for sure the racing will be different, if you are alone in front or in the group. I think we will see many, many more episodes like this.

“Honestly, it's quite strange that we didn't see it until now because we have this rule from last year and we knew that somehow it's going to happen. And finally it happened and I think it will definitely be part of racing [now].

“It's a bit of a pity because it cannot just be a speed race, let's say, but will be more about managing the tyres, pressures, temperatures. We'll have some fun, I think, it will be a bit more different.”

Marc’s team-mate and younger brother Alex Marquez emphasised that teams and riders must be ‘on the limit’ when deciding their starting tyre pressures, to maximise performance.

“It's something that we need to manage,” Alex said of maintaining the correct pressure. “From the box, from everybody. We need to [decide to] take that risk or not and you need to control it. 

"I was on the limit but I was ‘in’ quite clear. So for me, it was an easier race compared to Marc.

“But you need to always be on the limit because if not, if you are in the slipstream in the beginning of the race, it will be too [high]. So it's something that we need to control ourselves [during the race].”