KTM’s Pit Beirer has labelled MotoGP’s tyre pressure rules as “absurd”.
The Austrian factory has both benefited from and been penalised by the regulations, which require each rider to complete a minimum percentage of race laps above a set pressure.
Failure to meet those lap percentages – 30% in a Sprint, 60% in a grand prix – results in a post-race time penalty of 8 or 16 seconds, respectively.
The rule recently cost Beirer’s star rider Pedro Acosta a Sprint podium at COTA.
KTM’s disappointment was at least softened by the main beneficiary being Tech3’s Enea Bastianini, but there was no such silver lining when Maverick Vinales was stripped of a Qatar podium last year for the same infringement.
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KTM have also gained from the regulations, with Dani Pedrosa promoted to third by a post-race Sprint penalty for Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo at Jerez in 2024.
Nevertheless, Beirer made his opposition clear and called for change.
“The rule is simply absurd,” he told Speedweek.com. “I strongly advocated for tyre pressure to be checked on the starting grid… It’s the same for everyone.
“The [lap percentage] tyre pressure rule is absurd because it has nothing to do with cheating.
“If you build in enough reserve [to your starting pressure] to stay above the limit, but then find yourself in the slipstream of another rider, the pressure skyrockets and the bike becomes unrideable.
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“But if you’re riding alone at the front, the pressure suddenly drops.
“We’re not in the same situation as Marc Marquez last year, who could reasonably assume he’d be riding alone at the front and set everything up accordingly.
“Sometimes we’re fighting in the middle of the pack, then suddenly you have kilometres where you’re alone and the pressure drops.”
Pedro Acosta leads the pack, 2026 US MotoGP Sprint.
© Gold and Goose
Beirer added: “This rule definitely needs to be changed or abolished. The fact that something like this decides races is simply appalling.
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“You gain neither an advantage nor a disadvantage from 0.03 bar of tyre pressure.
“It’s complete nonsense, because it says nothing about whether someone did a good or bad job.”
Beirer is aware that the issue fades from discussion after a few rounds without incident.
“It annoys me more now because it has directly affected us again at COTA. If it doesn’t affect you for three or four races, you just push it aside.
“I ran into the FIM president on the starting grid, and he said, ‘This rule needs to be changed immediately.’ I told him, ‘You’re the FIM president – change it!’
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“Let’s all start with the same tyre pressure and then race.”
MotoGP will switch from Michelin to Pirelli tyres for 2027, providing an opportunity to revise the percentages, penalties or entire method used to determine tyre pressure legality.
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