Marc Márquez had to remove a tear-off from his visor while on the starting grid of the MotoGP Australian GP – an action that compromised his start as the tear-off ended up on his rear tire, causing significant wheelspin as he took off. Francesco Bagnaia was close to the Gresini rider, and the situation affected him as well.
In a press conference, the Ducati rider began by saying: ‘I saw that he was removing his tear-off, but he removed it, and he threw it to the wrong side, because the wind was blowing from that side, so it went back under his bike. He was trying to remove, but it was under his bike and we were very close to the start. So, it wasn’t ideal’.
Regarding how the situation affected him, Bagnaia explained: ‘I saw it, and I said: «Okay, I have to go more to the right». But then, Maverick [Viñales] started going to the inside, to the left, and I had to do a slalom’.
As Márquez admitted, riders have a verbal agreement not to remove their tear-offs on the starting grid, but he had to do so because his visibility was affected by an insect. Bagnaia acknowledged that his rival is right:
– We’ve talked about not throwing the tear-off at the start, because of the issue that happened with [Jack] Miller in 2020 at Misano, but we never made it a rule. So, it’s something that depends more on the rider’s feeling. But I recognize that if you have a bug on your visor, it’s impossible to see, or it deconcentrates you a lot, so it’s better to remove it.