P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Dashboard warning light helped alert Francesco Bagnaia to “very rare” puncture in Malaysian MotoGP.
Piero Taramasso from Michelin disclosed that Francesco Bagnaia was alerted to a slow puncture during the Malaysian MotoGP due to a dashboard warning. Bagnaia, who was in second place behind Alex Marquez, felt a change in his bike’s handling and noticed the low rear pressure warning on the dashboard. Despite trying to adjust his riding style, Bagnaia had to pit on lap 18 out of 20 as the grip worsened. The team found a large hole in the tire, most likely caused by carbon debris. Bagnaia’s lap times started to slow down on lap 11, and he struggled with the tire from lap 13 onwards, eventually having to stop due to the puncture. Bagnaia chose the medium front tire, banking on strong braking performance, but acknowledged the risk of losing grip on the edge. Despite the unfortunate puncture, Bagnaia remained pragmatic, citing his luck in avoiding a previous engine issue at Motegi.
