Portimão MotoGP Saturday Notes: Sprint Races, Pros And Cons

By David Emmett | Sun, 26/03/2023 - 01:16

If Friday was the warm up for the new schedule, Saturday was when it hit home hardest. The familiar pattern – FP3 in the morning, including a mad dash for a spot in Q2 in the final 15 minutes, then FP4 in the early afternoon followed immediately by qualifying – was gone. In its place, a lot of confused journalists (well, at least one, myself), suddenly confused by the fact that it was not yet 11am and MotoGP was already starting Q1.

Moto2 and Moto3 had a more normal pattern – they kicked off a little earlier in the morning, and qualifying was a little later in the afternoon than last year – but after qualifying for the Moto2 class, it was time for the first ever MotoGP sprint race. That turned into a genuine barn burner, in both senses of the phrase. It was exciting. It was something new. And it was really rather scary.

The day held a lot of surprises. Lap records tumbled in all three classes: by just under a tenth of a second in Moto2, half a second in Moto3, and by a whopping 1.5 seconds in MotoGP. Bikes and riders we had written off stunned the fans. Riders we had hyped up disappeared were utterly faceless. There is no substitute for racing to uncover the reality.

A caveat on that reality, perhaps. All three classes have had a test at the Portimão circuit within the last two weeks. So the setup work they needed to do had already been done, with the only real work left adjusting to conditions on the day. Whether the sprint race, and how qualifying played out, will continue to be as hectic and thrilling at tracks where the teams turn up and have to figure out a setup remains to be seen.

Wait and see

"I think we will adapt to the new schedule in Argentina," Pecco Bagnaia said after the sprint race. "Here we had the test, so we had time to prepare everything, to prepare the first session, the second session, the time attack. Everything was more in the direction for the race already thanks to the test. In Argentina it will be more difficult, because we will arrive there and the grip level is not so high, so you have not so much time to work for the race because we have to do the time attack in the afternoon. So, it will be quite difficult there."

While the MotoGP riders may want to try again at Argentina before jumping to conclusions about the new schedule, but we can make a preliminary judgment or two. A quick run down of the key points from the first Saturday with the new schedule.

1
2023
MotoGP
Portimao, Portugal
Aprilia
Ducati
Honda
KTM
Yamaha
Alex Marquez
Aleix Espargaro
Enea Bastianini
Fabio Quartararo
Francesco Bagnaia
Jack Miller
Jorge Martin
Marc Marquez
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Comments

I agree with your summation and opinion David but as you say, it’s early days yet and it may be that riders adjust themselves to the new format……but then again, maybe not.

Sprint races are great if you are Kiwi Moto GP fan, because now I can watch a race on Sunday morning rather than having to wait until I finish work on Monday.

I really enjoyed the sprint race and am looking forward to watching how things develop. I suspect that unless they provide points to those finishing further back there is a genuine risk that after the first few laps the majority of the field (as in those outside top 9) will just be processional gathering data for the main race. Arguably at a point the likes of Yamaha might just send FM21, or Honda might just send Taka out in the Sprint to gather data for their good rider’s race setups. When Pol eventually comes back KTM would be crazy not to do that while he’s regaining speed and confidence. 

I can also see merit in manufacturers, rather than Teams, having a reserve rider that is available for both themselves and their satellite teams. With so many races in quick succession there is a very high probability of them being required. This might also provide another career path for some of those not quite alien Moto2 riders to get into MotoGP or come across from WSBK.

Un stainable I reckon ,don’t get me wrong fantastic racing but the attrition rate of riders out in hospital , probably from no fault of their own will decide the championship. 42 races is absolutely bonkers these guys (and the mechanics) are human not machines.
Love what Dorna has done for the championship but this is a step too far. I thought the championship was at maximum last year but now with another 2 races and now sprint races just to chase viewers isn’t right. 

I've already put my thoughts on sprint racing on other article, but having had a night to sleep on it i think whats really bothering me is that it was Bastiani that was taken out.

The beast was the one that i thought might be able to challenge Pecco over the course of the season (mainly because hes on an identical bike).  Also hes excellent at managing tyres in longer races so i was looking forward to that.  I appreciate its early days but i expect Pecco to cruise to title (hope I'm wrong).

So there you are, rider X, halfway through the season, well placed in the CHAMPIONSHIP points table, but it is close with others also well placed, you are possibly worn out from so many races (& most likely crashes) & you know one injury causing you to miss any races & your chance of becoming WC is almost certainly gone. Where are you most likely to crash & get injured  - the sprint race. How important is it as you get closer to winning the championship? Will you even want to participate in it? These men are racers you say - they live to race - but they are also professionals (i.e. doing it for a living) & becoming WC = $.Lots & lots of $$$$$ for them & their families.

It's 12 points for the win. Championships are often won by a similar number of points. The sprint might bring some added risk as it stands on its own. It more likely adds risk due to an increase in the stress of each weekend as a whole. The normal Sunday race also has risks that the sprint race does not due to the tyres fading. I think a lot of riders have mentioned that the first laps of the sprint are exactly the same as the first laps of the full distance race. I think one race is not enough to make any judgement. I do think the riders have some valid issues with how the new schedule was forced on them without question. 

So through one race weekend Marquez has made contact w/ five riders and injured one. At this rate, by the end of the season he’ll have maimed three or four. Marc’s no thought hyper aggressiveness has  become a danger to other riders. Deserves a race ban for today’s mayhem because these events are now the norm not simple mistakes. 

I think I am with a lot of other people here and not fully comfortable with the Sprint races. I remember a race at Assen (2018 or 2019?) where there was a group of 7 fighting at the front with something crazy like 120 overtakes through the field. It was the first time I was watching and felt a bit scared for the riders. I know they take risk all the time but it just looked out of control. I felt that again on Saturday night, maybe we'll all get used to it a bit more, but as many have said, too many injuries this weekend, especially if it is the first of 21.