Jorge Martín Jump Start controversy at the start of the race is getting comments from fans after the Aprilia man was caught on video jumping around before the race on the Indonesian MotoGP Grand Prix. But the video shows nothing that shows Martín violated the rules, and the big issue is whether his motorcycle was moving before the flashing red lights.
The incident was made news after Martín was a surprise third-place winner at the Mandalika circuit on Sunday, October 11 in order to earn some championship points. The fans asked why the Spaniard wasn’t penalised, but the MotoGP sporting rules tell us the reason that isn’t a ‘Jump start’.
When Laura Montero, wife of Honda test driver Aleix Espargaró, posted a video on Instagram where Martín is getting ready for the race, the controversy has begun. On camera the Aprillia rider made subtle movements in the position he was riding in on the starting grid, raising the question of whether he had been expecting the start.
During the last preceding few moments before the start of the race, Martin seemed to accelerate his motorbike. The video of the incident doesn’t do a good job to determine exactly when the lights go out, or whether or not the motorcycle was moving at that time.
This distinction is very important as not all movements before the start are considered violations in any MotoGP regulations. The time of the movement, the location in the box, and benefits or not enjoyed when placing the bike are all factors to consider for incident evaluation.
A motorcycle must not be moving when the red lights to start the race are turned off, according to Article 1.18.14 of the MotoGP Sporting Regulations. A “jump start” is a motorcycle traveling faster when the lights turn off.
A second special case covered by the regulations is when the rider does a small movement and then stops, when the red lights are still on. In this case, the officials in charge decide if there was an advantage granted to the rider.
A jump start normally will have a double long lap penalty. But the punishment kicks in if the incident involves a rider who is moving, not just if the rider looks like they are moving but before the start of the race.
Other significant rules are on where a motorcycle should be positioned on the grid. The rules in Article 1.18.13 call for riders to place their front wheels in their assigned grid boxes behind the front boundary line and between the side markings. It is allowed to touch a line once it is in place but crossing the permitted boundary may be an additional infraction.
With Martín, there isn’t sufficient evidence from the viral video to definitively make a “jump start” determination. The bike looks like it is moving forward but since there are no lights on, it is not possible to know if the movement was continued. He could have stopped prematurely, which is within the rules!
It should not be overlooked, however, that the question of whether or not Martín gained an advantage also cannot be ignored. The Spaniard was in fifth place on the grid but dropped down to sixth when Fermin Aldeguer came up with a rake.The Spaniard had to start in 6th place after Fermin Aldeguer fell back to him in front of the first corner when they were in the warm-up area. He went back down to third but it appears did not benefit him for an early start.
But the loss of a job can’t preclude a jump start. The important point to always ask is if the bike advanced forward after the lights went out and it is up to the officials to interpret all of the evidence and make the determination if there should be a penalty.
Martín’s third place result was “fundamentally important” after the hard-fought Saturday afternoon when he lost the championship with an uneasy sprint effort. This victory on Sunday prompted him to freshen up his scorecard, with him two points ahead of his rival on the day of the Australian Grand Prix.
In the end, the Jorge Martin jump start controversy serves as a reminder of the need to know how to start the race in MotoGP before passing sentence, with just a short clip from the social media files. What the video shows doesn’t answer the questions yet it doesn’t answer that the Aprillia rider broke the rules. As the video of his motorcycle driving went viral, there was no proof that the lights were flashing red while he was moving.There was no proof, however, that his motorcycle signs were flashing red, and a penalty could not be warranted on the basis of the viral video alone.
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