Rule change closes Jerez loophole after Marquez's pit switch

MotoGP has enacted new pit-lane entry rules to close a loophole exposed by Marc Márquez’s rain-affected Jerez sprint in April. Márquez crashed at the final corner of the sprint, cut across grass and the pit-entry white lines to reach the pit lane, switched to a wet-setup Ducati and went on to win the sprint without receiving a penalty. Race Direction and members of the paddock judged the maneuver to fall into a regulatory grey area because existing weekend guidance only prohibited crossing the inner pit line, and Márquez had not exceeded pit-lane speed limits, ignored marshals, or stopped a non-running bike.

The FIM Grand Prix Commission and MotoGP race authorities moved the Pit Lane Procedures from interim guidance into the formal regulations, a change adopted at the Commission meeting in Balaton Park and brought into force from the Hungarian Grand Prix. Race Direction had issued interim clarifying guidance ahead of the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, and the formal wording was aligned with Race Direction protocol.

The revised rule requires all pit-lane entries and exits to use the designated entry and exit point and the route defined by the broken white line and the official pit-lane access road, and it mandates that riders cross the official pit-lane entry timing point when entering or exiting. The regulation explicitly forbids crossing the solid white lines at pit entry and exit. Stewards are empowered to penalize riders who fail to cross the broken line, do not use the pit-lane entry road in its entirety, or miss the timing point. MotoGP said the change is intended to close the Jerez loophole, restore fairness in pit procedures and provide clearer, enforceable guidance to teams, riders and officials moving forward.