To close up a grey area in the rule book over tyre pressures, after numerous teams were found last year to have been running under the recommended minimum set by Michelin, MotoGP introduced a stricter enforcement on the matter for 2023.
From the British GP, the rule was officially mandated, whereby riders must run at the minimum front (1.88 bar) and rear (1.7 bar) pressures for at least 50% of a grand prix and 30% of a sprint.
The rule was ostensibly brought in as a safety measure on the advice from Michelin, though riders have criticised it.
This is largely down to the fact front tyres lose grip and braking performance once they go above 2.0 bar of pressure.
While this is dangerous in itself, it has also meant overtaking has become a lot harder as well as more aggressive, as riders try to make up ground as early as possible in races to avoid any pressure issues.
This was one of the elements blamed by riders after last week’s San Marino Grand Prix for leading to boring racing.