GP Commission changes rules on jump-starts

MotoGP rulemaking body the Grand Prix Commission has restructured the system for penalising riders for jump starts following the aftermath of the debacle at the opening Moto2 round at Qatar.

There was chaos at Losail after a combination of multiple jump-starts and some of the high-speed cameras used to detect them failing. The consequence was that numerous riders were penalised with a ride-through penalty while others escaped with a lesser 20-second time penalty.

The new rule changes will now see riders who are not immediately penalised with a ride-through hit with a punishment equal to the length of a ride-through, as determined for every track by race control.

For practical reasons it has also been decided to remove the requirement that all jump-starts must be notified within the first four laps. However, Race Direction are still required to notify teams and riders as soon as possible.

The new rules will also come into effect from this weekend for the World Superbike championship.