The introduction of a second race on Saturday has been confirmed, which will take place on half of Sunday’s laps and will award halved points. The Sprint and GP grid defined by qualifying
by the correspondent Paolo Ianieri
August 20
– zeltweg (austria)
MotoGP will change format from 2023. Jorge Viegas, president of the International Federation and Carmelo Ezpeleta, number one of Dorna, together with IRTA president, Hervé Poncharal, confirmed the rumors that emerged yesterday, announcing, without going into details , many of which are still being defined, the change in the race weekend program starting from next season.
improvement
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“We have always tried to improve our sport, starting with safety, for the fans, the promoters and the televisions. For this reason, to increase the presence on the circuits and guarantee more entertainment, we have thought about a modification of the program ”said Ezpeleta. “From next year, and for all races, we will introduce a sprint race – announced Viegas -. After two years of Covid and an incredible sacrifice on the part of everyone, we decided to create even more exposure of what remains the most beautiful motorsport. And we will do it by further filling the Saturday program ”.
how does it work
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The Sprint race on Saturday afternoon will be preceded at the end of the third free practice session in the morning by qualifying, which will determine the grid for both the halved race and the real Sunday Grand Prix. The length of the Sprint will be half that of Sunday (at least 10 laps) with points assigned to the first 9: 12 to the first, 9 to the second, 7 to the third and then off to climb up to the point for the ninth classified. The decision was made over the summer break, with the manufacturers and teams being briefed over the Silverstone weekend.
controversy with the pilots
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During yesterday’s Safety Commission, the tones at times seem quite warm, Ezpeleta instead set aside the drivers of the changes. “I have heard that some of them have complained that they have not been consulted, but my obligation with them is to talk about safety, on the changes in format it is their teams who had to inform them. I also heard that there is a return to talk about the pilots union, but these are things that the pilots have said in the media, none of them came to talk to me saying that there is this need, and in any case, the union already exists, and it is the Safety Commission, where we talk about everything. There is no sport in the world in which there is a relationship and a continuous dialogue on what happens between the organization and the athletes, as happens in MotoGP ”.
August 20, 2022 – 1:05 pm
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