The history of the World Cup will remember that the champion ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia was the first winner of a MotoGP sprint race, but the proper name on Saturday at the Portimao circuit was Marc Márquez, who put on his superhero cape again to achieve things that seemed impossible not so long ago. After a disappointing pre-season, with a Honda that was a world away from its rivals, at the moment of truth the rider from Cervera once again worked magic on two wheels.
The new format of the weekend and the incursion of the sprint race in the afternoon, placed the first point of interest of the weekend on Saturday morning: the MotoGP classification. After going through the Q1 play-off, Márquez squared the perfect lap of Enea Bastianini’s wheel to achieve a stratospheric pole, destroying the circuit record, and return to the front on a grid. And in 2023 pole positions have a double prize, since both in the sprint race and in the long race on Sunday, and unlike Formula 1, the one who takes pole position in Q2 comes out first.
With almost no time to digest the rush of the morning, it was time to prepare to face the first sprint race. Twelve laps ahead, all the bikes on soft tires and the riders with their knives between their teeth. From the start it was a fight without quarter, unequal for Márquez, who saw how the Ducatis burned him down the straight, but in which he could function thanks to his particular explosive style on a motorcycle. The 20 minutes that the race lasted were a constant group fight, where there was hardly any time to speculate. The final duel between Bagnaia and Jorge Martín was won by the Italian, who took advantage of a mistake by the Spaniard in the last lap to pass him and inscribe his name in the list of winners of the first sprint race in history.
But again the protagonist of the day was behind. Márquez beat the Aprilia of Maverick Viñales, Aleix Espargaró and Miguel Oliveira and the KTM of Jack Miller to climb to a podium, much more symbolic than the points reward he has. And it is that the sprint race also distributes half the points of a normal race (12, 9, 7, 6 and so on, up to 1 point for ninth). A pole position and a podium was an unexpected bounty for Márquez, who later valued it very differently: «For me the two milestones are beautiful, but different. With pole position, I think we created great expectations, as did Fernando Alonso’s pole position in F1. In the race afterwards it was different. I didn’t expect to be on the podium, but when I get on a grid, I feel that extra pressure that I like and it makes me give more.”
“I hope it doesn’t turn into boxing”
The sprint race was a visual success. So at least was the feeling of the fans who lived it from the circuit and through television, but the model did not finish convincing everyone. It was expected that a short race would increase the intensity, generate more overtaking… but also a greater risk. In addition, the new weekend program where all the practices count means going to the limit for more time. Already on Friday Pol Esparagaró ended up in the hospital due to a fall in the last minutes of the second training session, looking for time to be in direct Q2. And in the sprint this Saturday, one of the favorites for the title, the Italian Bastianini, was hit by his compatriot Luca Marini and in the fall he broke his right shoulder blade and will miss the race this Sunday and next weekend. in Argentina.
With this scenario, several drivers raised their voices and the one who made the most noise was Aleix Espargaró, an authorized driver on the grid -in fact, he is the oldest-, who said the following about the sprint race. «I just hope that this sport does not become boxing, because it is not. You have to give this format time, understand it, see if the intensity and tension of the drivers goes down a bit. If people liked it, perfect, but what I don’t like is that there are as many falls and as many crashes as there have been.
What all the pilots agree on is that the format and schedules should be changed, as they barely leave the pilots free time. And the championship is willing to discuss it. Next Friday in Argentina, at the MotoGP Safety Commission, the issue will be discussed openly, although the continuity of the sprint race is not in question and we will continue to have Saturdays as spectacular and unexpected as the one experienced at the Portimao circuit.
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