The final results of the Catalan Grand Prix were dramatically revised hours after the race after several riders were penalised for failing to comply with MotoGP’s minimum tyre pressure regulations.
The biggest casualty was Joan Mir, whose dream result for Honda disappeared after officials handed him a 16-second post-race penalty. Mir had initially crossed the line in second place after surviving one of the most chaotic races of the season.
However, the sanction dropped the Honda rider all the way down to 13th position, reducing his points haul from 20 to just three in a major blow for both rider and team.
The penalty was issued after Mir’s bike was found to have breached MotoGP’s mandatory minimum tyre pressure limits during the race.
Several other riders were also punished following technical checks. Alex Rins fell from 11th to 14th, while Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlioglu both lost positions after receiving identical penalties. Raul Fernandez was another rider penalised after the race.
The revised standings created unexpected opportunities for several rivals.
Fermin Aldeguer emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries, moving up from fourth to second place to secure a career-best MotoGP result for the Gresini Ducati rider.
Source: Crash.net
Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia was elevated onto the podium after originally finishing fifth on track. The factory Ducati rider had already gained one place following an earlier penalty handed to Ai Ogura for contact with Pedro Acosta during the race.
Bagnaia’s promotion secured Ducati’s first factory podium of the season, while Fabio Di Giannantonio retained victory for the VR46 team.
Marco Bezzecchi also gained from the post-race reshuffle. Despite describing the weekend as one of his most difficult performances of the year, the Aprilia rider climbed to fourth in the final classification.
The unusually high number of tyre pressure violations was largely linked to the chaotic nature of the Grand Prix itself. Multiple red flags and restarts forced teams to rapidly recalculate tyre strategies for a heavily shortened race distance, making pressure management significantly more complicated.
MotoGP’s tyre pressure regulations require riders to remain above a minimum threshold for a set percentage of the race distance, with breaches resulting in automatic time penalties.
Bagnaia himself was briefly investigated for a potential technical infringement but was ultimately cleared after officials determined a leaking wheel caused the pressure drop rather than an illegal setup.
The dramatic late changes capped off one of the most unpredictable MotoGP weekends in recent memory, where the final results were only truly decided long after the chequered flag had fallen.
