The MotoGP World Championship is set to change its format significantly next year after seeing a drop in interest in recent years. In what was described as an extraordinary press conference, albeit without a script and with improvised gestures, the organizers of the competition, the International Motorcycling Federation and the Manufacturers’ Association, announced in Austria the introduction of sprint races, tests of comparatively shorter duration the traditional Sundays, every Saturday of the main prize. The proposal is radical as it applies to all stations on the calendar and doubles the competitive burden of some pilots who learned about the paradigm shift through the media. The goal is to shake up the contest proposal and reverse the downward trend in both ratings and viewership.
“We want to arouse more interest, have a more attractive offer for fans, brands and television. Our goal is to increase the visibility of the championship,” stated Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna. The format is not yet finalized and details need to be worked out, which will be discussed taking into account the views of all stakeholders. As confirmed by Jorge Viegas, President of the FIM, the new test will count towards the overall standings of the competition and will have half the duration of the traditional Sunday race. Likewise, half of the points will be distributed and the advent of the new format means no change in the ongoing qualifying sessions – the two heats, broken down into Q1 and Q2, will continue to determine the grid positions on both Saturday and Sunday- . In the first draft of the new format, the sprint race for each track will be held at 15:00 local time and Friday will take on greater importance as two longer practice sessions determine the drivers who will qualify directly for Q2.
“The teams agreed. We believe that all of this can be good for the show and for business,” said Hervé Poncharal, President of IRTA, the association of participating brands. “There will be no more track time, but more action and spectacle. Engines or tires are no longer used and the number of kilometers in a race weekend remains more or less the same,” he added when discussing the possible controversy with the drivers. The protagonists on the layout expressed different opinions when asked about it.
“I don’t think it’s right to make such a change without the riders’ opinion,” said Fabio Quartararo, current world champion. The Frenchman from Yamaha came out to call the idea stupid. Who best expressed the athletes’ doubts was Pol Espargaró, currently at Honda and the next main course of the new KTM project in collaboration with the Spanish brand GasGas: “The idea is that we take double the risk and do the same job and ask for the same money. There were also positive opinions, led by Jack Miller (Ducati) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia). “It’s going to be something the fans are going to love. Obviously it increases the risk; but we are pilots, not dancers,” said the Australian. The one from Roses understood the reasons for the announced revolution: “It’s a show and we have to promote it.” Marc Márquez, the championship’s main star, has also endorsed the initiative.
Faced with the avalanche of questions about the pilots’ opinions, the President of the FIM recalled that other format changes had also caused resistance in the past. “In Superbikes we have three races and there was reluctance at first, but now the format has settled and it has shown that it has worked,” he said. Ezpeleta wanted to stress that although they have studied what is happening in other disciplines, as in the case of Formula 1, which added three sprint races to its calendar last year, the format is specific to MotoGP and cannot be compared. The Dorna boss threw balls at the dust raised: “The pilots have to be informed by their own teams, that’s not our thing”.
After proposing a worldwide fan survey at the beginning of the summer, the Spanish company that has been managing the World Cup since 1991 seems to have decided to take action to improve the quality of the show and attract interest from the public, manufacturers, win back and sponsors aware that other championships have outperformed them in this regard. Formula 1, which has also been going through a period of significant weakness, has already completed a major transformation of its product that has once again boosted viewer ratings and generated unprecedented interest in deep-rooted markets like the United States. The premier category of four wheels has just increased its popularity ratings for the fourth straight year, and its digital strategy on social media and a hugely successful series on the Netflix content platform have catapulted its popularity among younger generations. Although they don’t say it openly, they want to take a similar step with this and the coming changes from the pinnacle championship of the two wheels.
Bastianini gets his first pole and tightens Ducati’s nuts
On a competitive level, left in the background during an Austrian GP full of news in the paddock, Enea Bastianini once again made solid arguments for Ducati in the battle with Jorge Martín to be included in the official team next year. The Rimini man clinched his first pole position in MotoGP with a masterful lap, with his Madrid rival behind him in fourth. The front row was completed by the two factory Borgo Panigale machines with Pecco Bagnaia in second and Jack Miller in third place. Championship leader Fabio Quartaro was the only one to break the Italian dominance – five bikes in the top six – with fifth place. Aleix Espargaró, the main pursuer of the reigning world champion, starts this Sunday at 2 p.m. (DAZN) from ninth place.
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