The top category World Championship copies the Formula 1 format and will premiere from next year with a short race held every Saturday
The World Motorcycle Championship is facing one of the biggest changes since it began in 1949. From the first round of next year there will be a sprint race in all Grand Prix, which will be on Saturday at 3 pm and which, logically, will force to change the entire weekend program as it has been known until now.
The public has fallen, the circuits are emptying and in recent years there has been a decline in interest among the youngest, which has been accentuated with the withdrawal of an icon like Valentino Rossi and with the great reference of recent years, Marc Márquez, gone. of the tracks due to an injury. There was an urgent need to turn around a product that was not addictive as before, as the championship’s big boss, Carmelo Ezpeleta, explained in an exceptional press conference: “What we are looking for is for MotoGP to generate more interest for the fans who will enjoy a race added on Saturday. But also to help the promoters of the races and the televisions, who can sell the product better».
The president of the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM), Jorge Viegas, was more explicit when he spoke of the need to “save the championship”. And he explained it this way: «After two years of pandemic that we have all suffered, we need more spectacle on the circuits and that they are also filled on Saturdays».
The idea arose after analyzing the results of a global macro survey launched in June by Dorna (Championship Promoter) with the aim of gathering the opinion of motorcycle fans. And the results left no room for doubt. What people like is racing. After a three-pronged debate between Dorna, the FIM and the MotoGP teams and manufacturers, it was decided to implement the championship with this format, which will already be used in Formula 1 in 2021, but shows differences.
For starters, these sprint races are held every weekend, and not just at one-off Grands Prix like F1 does. In addition, their results will not determine the starting grid for Sunday’s feature race and therefore the qualifying format for Q1 and Q2 will be maintained, which will determine positions in both starts. The estimated distance is about half of a long race and will split 50% of the points between the nine best finishers: 12 points, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1.
The pilots received the news with suspicion and some even complained that they had no opinion about such a relevant change. On Friday afternoon, Ezpeleta brought them all together in the traditional Security Committee and explained the situation. “It is never easy to achieve unanimity. There were different opinions, but in general the message was understood,” he assured. And the message couldn’t be clearer. If the fans, the televisions and the promoters want races, MotoGP will offer 42 instead of 21 from 2023.
To bet that pole in Austria would be achieved by a Ducati was betting on insurance, the question would be which of his riders would achieve it. And there was indeed a surprise, as Enea Bastianini made her premier class debut and took her first pole position since 2018, when she competed in Moto3. A battle between the pilots of the Italian brand is expected. And the figure of Pecco Bagnaia stands out, winner of the last two Grand Prix and who will seek the ‘hat-trick’ of triumphs, something that no one at Ducati has achieved since the days of Casey Stoner. Out of respect in the race, but without team orders, Jack Miller (3rd), Jorge Martín (4th) and Johann Zarco (6th) will try to avoid him.
Can a motorcycle that was not a Ducati win in Austria? World Cup leader Fabio Quartararo (5th) was very clear about it: “It’s like in a video game, there’s an easy level, an intermediate level. Winning Ducati here would be like playing at a divine level.” In addition to Jorge Martín, our options go through Maverick Viñales, Joan Mir and Aleix Espargaró, who will share the third row, who saw his best lap in Q2 canceled due to crossing the limit. track limits and went from sixth to ninth. “The bike is not bad, we are not slow, the problem is that the Ducati are stratospheric. On paper, nothing outside of the top 5 is a good result,” Espargaró explains.
In Moto2, pole went to Japan’s Ogura, with Alonso López and Augusto Fernández on the front row. In Moto3, young rookie Dani Holgado secured his first World Cup pole and will also dream of opening his closet of podium finishes or race wins.
Source: La Verdad
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