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MotoGP officials announced Saturday that the weekend schedule will undergo the biggest change in the history of the series next year with the addition of half-distance sprint races for the MotoGP class on Saturdays, along with the usual Sunday races. It's MotoGP's attempt to fix what's ailing the series (and organizers say it's just the beginning), but opinions are mixed about whether it will do any good.
Personally, I think it's missing the point. But before I have my say, let's look at what's going on.
MotoGP is struggling against a few headwinds right now. Fan attendance at the recent British Grand Prix was the lowest ever for a MotoGP round at the Silverstone circuit. Attendance was notably down at Mugello in the heart of Valentino Rossi country for the first race where the local hero wasn't competing. Ticket prices are high at many races, at a time when inflation is squeezing household budgets around the world. In many countries, televised races are behind a paywall. Die-hard fans may pay, but recruiting new fans is almost impossible under a "pay first and get hooked later" business plan.
On top of Rossi's retirement, the sport has been without its biggest star, Marc Márquez, still recovering from yet another major surgery on his arm.
And while talent is deep and closely matched — the top 10 in qualifying this weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria were separated by just 0.564 seconds — the racing itself has sometimes been a little too processional. A variety of technical factors has made overtaking more difficult.
All of this has left MotoGP looking a little diminished. Thus the changes.
Of course World Superbike expanded its already busy weekend schedule in 2019 by adding the Tissot Superpole sprint race on Sunday, in addition to the full-length races on both Saturday and Sunday. And in 2021 Formula One began adding sprint races to three rounds per season.
"We have been looking at other sports, different possibilities, and we are trying to accommodate ourselves to offer a better show, especially for the fans, and this includes the promoters, and for television," said Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of series organizer Dorna, in Saturday's press conference.
And while more changes are promised, the sprint races are the first move. On the Saturday afternoon of each race weekend, the MotoGP riders will compete in a half-distance race that pays reduced points — 12 points for a win instead of 25. In theory, expenses will not increase for the teams because the sprint race will replace a practice session, so the total amount of track time will be similar. Moto2 and Moto3 will remain the same.
The announcement got off to a contentious start. MotoGP officials briefed the teams on the decision and left it up to them to tell the riders. As a result, the news leaked out and some riders learned about the change from the media.
Opinion on the sprint races in 2023? 🤔
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 20, 2022
“It's going to create fantastic racing... I look forward to being a part of it” 🎙️ - @jackmilleraus #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/9g7oPupWd1
Rider opinions were mixed. Some liked the change, some didn't. (Defending champion Fabio Quartararo called it "totally stupid." Unsurprisingly, MotoGP did not include his comments in any of the videos of rider reactions.) Some riders were miffed that they weren't consulted. Some noted that although it amounted to no more track time, it did amount to more risk. A sprint race, with riders unconcerned about tire wear or conserving energy, and knowing there was little time to advance, could lead to more aggressive riding and would certainly raise the possibility of crashes and injuries beyond that of a practice session the sprint race replaces. And it does greatly increase rider exposure. While World Superbike riders have three races a weekend, there are only 12 rounds this year, so 36 races. With an expected 22 rounds in 2023, that will mean 44 MotoGP races. Formula One has 22 rounds but only runs sprint races at three of them.
Of course complaints and concerns will fade away if the sprint races become popular and lead to increased fan attendance and more television viewers. Will that happen? I don't think so.
I like the idea of sprint races. We might as well get used to counting them as full grand prix wins, because in 2 years time, people will have given up on counting them separately, same as has happened in WorldSBK.
— David Emmett (@motomatters) August 20, 2022
But sprint races are irrelevant to solving MotoGP's problems.
Why I don't think sprint races are the answer
MotoGP has problems it can control, problems it can't control, and problems of its own making. Rossi's impact on the sport was undeniable, and although he came closer than anyone to racing forever, no one races forever. But big stars have retired before and the sport has gone on.
I think MotoGP's two biggest problems are the quality of the racing and accessibility. On the former, a combination of technical issues has made overtaking more difficult, leading to less exciting racing even though the field is incredibly closely matched. The proliferation of aerodynamic aids and ride-height-altering devices has changed the behavior of the motorcycles. For some riders, following another bike closely raises the temperature of the front Michelin tire and reduces its grip, making it difficult to set up a pass. MotoGP is prototype racing, so it's supposed to be about advancing the technology, but sometimes the advancing technology makes for less interesting competition on the track. Unintended consequences.
My concern is the riders are being overloaded with risk. FP1, 2 & 3 are now basically Q sessions. Then Q1 & Q2 when riders take huge risks to gain a 1000th. Then a sprint race. I like the idea but I think the sprint should be for grid positions & not count as a GP victory
— Mat Oxley (@matoxley) August 20, 2022
But I think MotoGP's bigger problem is accessibility. Weekend tickets easily cost more than $100 in most cases and if you want to get a closeup look at a MotoGP race bike you'll probably have to pay for a VIP package that can easily hit four figures.
The bigger problem is television. Just as motorcycle manufacturers have to market to young people because their loyal customers eventually age out of riding, race fans come and go and racing series have to draw in new fans. That's very difficult if the races can only be seen behind a paywall. You may have heard a friend talking about how MotoGP is a far superior show to Formula One. If you can watch a race for free you may see that it's true and become hooked. But are you going to pay a subscription up front just to find out? Not likely.
MotoGP reporter Simon Patterson suggested a great idea: Use the sprint races to draw in new fans by making them free and easy to watch.
Here’s an idea. None of the broadcasters’ contracts will have any mention them having exclusive rights to show (the brand new idea of) sprint races, right?
— Simon Patterson (@denkmit) August 20, 2022
So stream them. YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, TikTok, the works. Let people see how amazing our sport is.
MotoGP saw the huge boom Formula One has experienced by making the sport more accessible and through the success of its "Drive to Survive" show on Netflix. But MotoGP only partially copied that, creating its own show that was poorly done. It has not taken the more important step of making the action easier to see, so more new fans might be attracted.
Instead, the attitude — and this is just my opinion — is one of arrogance. "MotoGP is the highest level so we can make it expensive and difficult for you to watch and you'll do it anyway." From its TV contracts to its social media channels, the overall approach appears to emphasize extracting the most money over reaching the most potential fans. One tiny example: Zack's recent ode to a great last-lap British Superbike battle. If that had been a MotoGP video, we couldn't have shared it with you because MotoGP blocks their videos from being embedded in other sites. Common Tread has a lot of readers who are only mildly interested in racing, but those readers will never get exposed to any great highlights from MotoGP here because the series prevents it.
Trying to form some useful conclusions about MotoGP sprint race. All I’ve come up with is that it looks like activity masquerading as progress
— Julian Ryder (@MotoGPJules) August 20, 2022
The bottom line is that Saturday sprint races change none of this, except perhaps for making on-site fans feel like they're getting a slightly better value for their high-priced tickets. Ezpeleta and company have said there's more to come, so I won't say they've whiffed just yet. But so far, this strikes me as the equivalent of the rider whose motorcycle has a slipping clutch and an oil leak, and he addressed it by putting some really cool stickers on the fairing.
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