Wet start, penalties, substitute rider rule changes

Some updates to the regulations from Misano

The Grand Prix Commission, composed of Messrs. Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna, Chairman), Paul Duparc (FIM), Herve Poncharal (IRTA) and Takanao Tsubouchi (MSMA), in the presence of Carlos Ezpeleta (Dorna), Mike Trimby (IRTA, Secretary of the meeting) and Corrado Cecchinelli (Director of Technology), in a meeting held in Misano on September 8, 2018 made the following decisions:

Sporting Regulations - EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

Wet Start Procedure
When races are starting under the “wet start procedure” there are potential difficulties for teams to top up fuel tanks to their full capacity. It has therefore been decided that when this start procedure is implemented the race distance will be reduced by one lap.

Change of Position Penalty
Penalties requiring a rider to change position are currently displayed on a board at the finish line for five laps. As such penalties are already displayed on the rider’s dashboard and because there is the potential for various position changes to take place in a five-lap period, it was decided that the board at the finish line will henceforth only be displayed for three laps.

Substitute and Replacement Riders
Concern has been expressed that MotoGP class teams could manipulate the current regulation to switch machines within the same team, or with another team, and perhaps help a rider who was close to exceeding his engine allocation. Because there are so many possible scenarios the regulations will be modified so that a substitute or replacement rider cannot be a rider currently contracted to the Championship unless approved by the GPC.

EFFECTIVE SEASON 2019

Moto2™ Class Wild Cards
Due to availability constraints on the new Moto2™ 2019 engine and the fact that there will be no machines of this specification in other Championships, it was agreed that Moto2™ wild card entries will not be available in 2019. The situation will be reviewed for the 2020 season.