When we talk about MotoGP, we very often hear that the real values are seen when the world championship caravan begins the European campaign of the season. In this sense, the Jerez event, one of the great classics on the calendar, could tell us more about what we can expect from this season, after we had more than one surprise in the first three races.
In Qatar and Portimao it could be said that the script was what everyone expected, with world champion Pecco Bagnaia and his rival in the race for the 2023 title Jorge Martin sharing the spoils on Sunday. Ducati, therefore, also confirmed its status as favourites, reaching 11 consecutive victories.
However, the Texan trip to Austin will certainly have raised some alarm bells in Borgo Panigale, because it showed an Aprilia in excellent form. After the encouraging sign of the victory in the Portimao Sprint, Maverick Vinales was the dominator of the weekend of the Grand Prix of the Americas, signing pole position and winning both races, even recovering from 11th place after a bad start in the long one .
A sign that at this moment the Noale manufacturer seems to have gotten really close to Ducati, which even in this case had to settle for the lowest step of the podium, because Pedro Acosta continued his impressive growth, winning the second consecutive podium after that of Portimao, managing to fight for the victory in MotoGP for the first time and also demonstrating that the KTM can already be a concrete threat in his hands.
Without forgetting other protagonists such as Enea Bastianini, who may not have yet placed a real high, but quietly he is second in the World Championship, 21 points behind Martin. And that Marc Marquez who is still waiting for Sunday's push with the Gresini Racing Ducati, after having achieved two consecutive second places in the Sprints. In Austin, however, he was in the lead when he crashed, so his apprenticeship on the Red seems to be almost over.
The Andalusian weekend, therefore, can certainly offer many ideas and among these there is also the appendix of the collective test day which will be held on Monday after the GP, which could be useful above all for Yamaha and Honda to try to get out of the moment of great difficulty they are experiencing.
Below, you will find the complete weekend programme, the television and LIVE programming from Motorsport.com.
Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
MotoGP 2024: the times of the Spanish Grand Prix
The European phase of the 2024 calendar for MotoGP begins and therefore we return to having more traditional timetables, with the Jerez program which is drawn up on the now usual Sprint format and which will therefore see the short race on Saturday start at 3pm and the long Sunday at 2pm.
Friday 26 April
FP1 Moto3: 9:00-9:35
FP1 Moto2: 9:50-10:30
FP1 MotoGP: 10.45am-11.30am
FP2 Moto3: 1.15pm-1.50pm
FP2 Moto2: 2.05pm-2.45pm
FP2 MotoGP: 3pm-4pm
Saturday 27 April
FP3 Moto3: 8:40-9:10
FP3 Moto2: 9:25-9:55
P MotoGP: 10.10am-10.40am
MotoGP Qualifying: 10.50am-11.30am
Moto3 Qualifying: 12.50-13.30
Moto2 Qualifying: 1.45pm-2.25pm
Sprint MotoGP: 3pm
Sunday 28 April
MotoGP Warm-Up: 9.40-9.50
Moto3 race: 11:00 am
Moto2 race: 12.15pm
MotoGP race: 2pm
MotoGP 2024: how can I watch the Spanish Grand Prix
Sky Sport MotoGP HD (Sky channel 208) and Now: complete live coverage of all the weekend sessions and MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 races.
TV8 HD (channel 8 of digital terrestrial): live coverage of qualifying and the MotoGP Sprint on Saturday. Postponement of the races of the three classes to Sunday (Moto3 at 2.05pm, Moto2 at 3.20pm and MotoGP at 5.05pm)
MotoGP 2024: Motorsport.com's LIVE coverage of the Spanish Grand Prix
Saturday 27 April
MotoGP Qualifying: from 10.20am
Sprint MotoGP: from 2.30pm
Sunday 28 April
MotoGP race: from 1.30pm
Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing leads at the start
Photo by: Dorna
MotoGP 2024: let's discover the Jerez track
The Jerez Circuit is one of the circuits with the longest tradition on the calendar of MotoGP. The Andalusian track has hosted the Spanish GP uninterruptedly since the 1989 season and has seen a multitude of legends pass through its legendary curves, which form a treacherous and somewhat complex track, even if the drivers already know it perfectly for all the times they ran there.
| Length of the Jerez circuit |
4.4km |
|
Width of the Jerez circuit |
11 meters |
| Curves of the Jerez circuit |
13 (8 on the right and 5 on the left) |
| Longest straight on the Jerez circuit |
607 meters (opposite straight) |
Being a short circuit, the laps of the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix races have increased compared to previous events this season. The premier class long race will be 25 laps in total, while Saturday's sprint race will be 12 laps in total. Moto2, however, will complete a total of 21 laps of the Spanish circuit, while Moto3 will run a 19-lap race.
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