FIM Grand Prix World Championship
Decision of the Grand Prix Commission
The Grand Prix Commission, composed of Messrs. Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna, Chairman), Ignacio Verneda (FIM CEO), Herve Poncharal (IRTA) and Takanao Tsubouchi (MSMA), with the participation of Javier Alonso (Dorna) and Mike Trimby (IRTA, Secretary), in various electronic meetings held in February 2016, made the following decisions:
Sporting Regulations
Effective Immediately
Various minor modifications were approved:
The position that a machine must take up in the marked positions on the starting grid has been defined more precisely.
The procedure to be adopted when the sighting lap has been dry but there is rain whilst the riders are on the grid has been modified. The effect is to reduce delay in starting the race whilst still giving teams sufficient time to make changes to the machines.
Under previous regulations the penalty imposed during the actual race for overtaking under a yellow flag was fixed with the rider having to go back a number of places. In future it is possible for different penalties to be imposed but still including the possibility of the rider having to go back a number of places.
A new condition has been included in the regulations which reflects obligations on teams and riders already included in the Team Participation Agreements concerning public pronouncements. The effect of the regulation is that Teams and Riders must not make statements or issue press releases that are considered to be irresponsible and hence damaging to the Championship. Of course, the new regulation does not seek to prohibit responsible expressions of legitimate disagreement with the MotoGP Management, Organisers and/or MotoGP policies.
Disciplinary Regulations
Effective Immediately
Following recent decisions concerning the competence of Race Direction and Stewards to impose penalties, other modifications have been made to the Disciplinary Regulations.
The Panel of Stewards will be known as the FIM MotoGP Stewards Panel and they will be responsible for deciding on penalties that are not considered to be matters of fact. Anyone receiving a penalty from the FIM MotoGP Stewards Panel may appeal to the FIM MotoGP Court of Appeal which is required to hear and rule on any appeals within four days.
The system of Penalty Points will now only count towards the penalty of disqualification from an event which will happen when a rider accumulates 10 Penalty Points. The interim penalties previously triggered after accumulating four or seven points, no longer apply.
Penalty Points will continue to be recorded against the record of the rider for 365 days. However, when a rider has accumulated 10 or more points and suffered a disqualification 10 points are removed from his record.
A regularly updated version of the FIM Grand Prix Regulations which contains the detailed text of the regulation changes may be viewed shortly on: