Eco maps are a special engine setting used by most, but not all, manufacturers to save the maximum am🦩ount of fuel when riding from t🌜he pits (where all refuelling must be done) to the grid on the sighting lap.

However, in Espargaro’s case the map wasn’t then disabled and as his bike crept slওowly away at the start of the warm-up lap, due to an 'eco' limit of 5,000rpm and 100km/h, the Spaniard knew his race was doomed.

Most riders whose machines also use a special eco-map confirmed on Thursday that, as for Espargaro, the setting has to be removed by an engineer. Only Honda's Alex Marquez suggested possible rider or 'manual' control of the&nb❀sp;🅠eco map.

As such, title contender Espargaro♉ had no choice but to pit at the end of the warm-up lap and jump onto his spare RS-GP. But the damage had been done and he eventually finished outside the points, in 16th.

“We used that mistake to re-analyse everything, to try to improve. It was not as simple as it looked, the ౠprob🅰lem," Espargaro said. “It was a human mistake. It can happen.”

While the throttle-hungry Motegi layout has always been one of t𒉰he toughest for fuel consumption, the relatively recent addition of acceleration-boosting wings and ride-height devices has made MotoGP mach൲ines even more thirsty.

Espargaro’s team-mate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Maverick Vinales revealed 💙the eco map setting is now used at ‘nearly all races’ and has become ‘totally normal procedure’.

“Maybe from [16] tracks this year, I’ve used it at 12,” Vinales said.⭕ “We try to use the least amount of fuel going♌ to the grid, because we want to use the maximum power of the bike [throughout the race].

“As a rider we don’t control [the eco map], we don’t [do] 🌱nothing, it is [controlled by] the team.”

VR46’s 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Luca Marini confirmed it’s the same scenario at Ducati: “It is the engineer, the elect♋ronic guy, he&n𓃲bsp;needs to remember to remove it on the grid.”

“I don’t do nothing. I don’t think any riders can [operate] it,” said team-mate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Marco Bezzecchi on using the map setting. “I think the onlyꦅ bike that doesn’t have an eco map is the Yamaha. Everybody else, it’s normal.”

Manual ‘eco map’ at Yamaha and Suzuki

RNF Yamaha’s 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Darryn Binder s▨aid: “The first time I’ve really been asked to [save fuel before the race] is Japan. Up until then I just rode nicely to the grid, not flat out, but this time they actually told me to ride s൩lowly. It wasn’t fun!

“I reckon even if I didn’t do it, we’d make it [the race distance]. I thi🐼nk Yamaha is always on the safe side.”

But it’s not only Yamaha that relies on human fuel-💞saving before the race.

“We don't have a [eco] fuel map, like Aprilia,” said Suzuki’s 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Alex Rins. “We try to manage onꦫ the out-lap, manually. Just go with 6th gear, with a very lo🌺w percentage of throttle.

“I'm quite an expe🐟rt on this because always in the car I go on the [fuel] limit, many kilometres with 0 [on the gauge]!”

Meanwhile, LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez gave the most cryptic answer, perhaps suggesting the eco map cannot be accidentally 'forgotten' on the RCV or that it can be manualꦦly disabled by the rider:

“Everybody is using something similar🦄 but that [Espargaro] problem, with [what] we have now in Honda, we will never have this problem because it’s impossible. It’s more manual... I cannot explain more!”

If dry, might Sunday’s♑ Buriram race be another event where careful fuel saving is needed on the way to the grid?

“First ꦏtime was Japan, but I think here as well, we’ll see on Sunday,” said Binder.

“I thꦬink yes, because there are some long straights,” agreed fellow rook๊ie Bezzecchi. “Normally on this kind of track we have the eco map, but it is the first time for me here [on a MotoGP bike here] so it’s difficult to say now.”

“I don’t know, but either way this is not a big problem for us, especജially this year,” added Marini.

“Yeah, you have to do an eco lap but if you don’t want toꦏ [use the special map] then you can justও make the sighting lap very slow and the fuel is there. It is OK. You can finish the race every time well.

“꧅This year we never had a [fuel consumption] problem.”