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Espargaro: Tyre penalty deciding title "worse" image for MotoGP than Morbidelli slap
The 2023 MotoGP championship battle between Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin will be decided in Sunday’s grand prix final in Valencia. Martin trails Bagnaia by just 14 points after winning the sprint on Saturday, and Bagnaia needs to finish at least fifth to secure his second crown. Saturday saw the first tyre pressure penalties issued in a sprint, with Morbidelli and Luca Marini receiving three-second penalties for running under the minimum front pressure for a second time this season. Both Martin and Bagnaia have received warnings for this already, so any infringement in the grand prix will result in a three-second penalty. There are concerns that the title could be decided by something beyond the riders’ control, which would be a worse image for MotoGP than Aleix Espargaro slapping Morbidelli during practice in Qatar. Espargaro and Morbidelli believe that the rule needs to be improved and hope for proactive solutions to be implemented.
