Austrian GP
The World Championship of the highest category copies the Formula 1 format and will premiere a short race that will be held every Saturday from next year
The Motorcycle World Championship is facing one of its biggest changes since it began back in 1949. From the first round of next year, a sprint race will be implemented in all the grand prix, which will be held on Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. and that, logically, will force to change the entire weekend program as it was known until now.
The audiences are down, the circuits are emptying out and in recent years there has been a drop 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 , away from the tracks due to injury. There was an urgent need to turn around a product that was not addictive like before, as explained by the great boss of the championship, Carmelo Ezpeleta, in an exceptional press conference: «What we are looking for is that MotoGP arouses 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 will be able to 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 like this: «After two years of a pandemic in which 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 capturing the opinion of motorcycle fans. And the results left no room for doubt. What people like is racing. After a three-way debate between Dorna, the FIM and the MotoGP teams and manufacturers, it was decided to implement the championship with this format, which has already been used in Formula 1 in 2021, but has differences.
For starters, these sprint races will be held every weekend, and not just at one-off grands prix like F1 does. In addition, their results will not define the grid for Sunday’s feature race and, therefore, the Q1 and Q2 qualifying format is maintained, which will determine the positions in both starts. The estimated distance will be approximately half of a long race and will distribute 50% of the points to the top nine 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 not counted on their opinion for such a relevant change. On Friday afternoon, Ezpeleta brought them all together in the traditional Security Commission and explained the situation to them. “Achieving unanimity is never easy. There were different opinions, but in general the message was understood, ”he assured. And the message could not be clearer. If the fans, the televisions and the promoters want races, from 2023 MotoGP will offer 42 instead of 21.
Ducati Poker
To bet that the pole in Austria would be achieved by a Ducati was to bet on insurance, the question would be which of its riders would achieve it. And there was indeed a surprise because Enea Bastianini debuted in the premier class and achieved his first pole position since 2018, when he 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 has achieved at Ducati since the days of Casey Stoner. From the respect in the race, but without team orders, Jack Miller (3rd), Jorge Martín (4th) and Johann Zarco (6th) will try to prevent him.
Could a motorcycle that wasn’t a Ducati win in Austria? The leader of the World Cup, Fabio Quartararo (5th), was very graphic about it: «It’s like in a video game, there is an easy level, a medium level. Winning Ducati here would be like playing at God level.” In addition to Jorge Martín, our options go through Maverick Viñales, Joan Mir and Aleix Espargaró, who will share the third row of the grid. The latter saw his best lap canceled in Q2 for exceeding the track limits, and went from sixth to ninth place. «The bike is not bad, we are not slow, the problem is that the Ducati are stratospheric. On paper, nothing outside the top 5 is a good result,” Espargaró explained.
In Moto2 the pole went to the Japanese Ogura, with Alonso López and Augusto Fernández in the front row. While in Moto3, the young rookie Dani Holgado achieved his first World Championship pole and will also dream of opening his locker of podiums or race victories.
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