Write down, memorize and familiarize yourself with this name: Sprint racing.
It is the new MotoGP toy to stop the drop in audiences, attract more viewers and, ultimately, reinvigorate the product by giving more minutes of action on the track with something at stake for the protagonists of the circus, the riders. Main actors who, when the invention – clearly inspired by F1 – was announced last August, were not consulted. Not in these seven months either. One day after the format’s premiere in Portimão (Saturday, 4:00 p.m. Spanish time), most pilots are wary of the stress it will create for them. And for the same price… because they will charge the same (for now).
“Change the weekend strategy, the way of working. Now in FP2 [the second free practice, on Fridays] you have to try the best lap, and not on Saturday”, comments the champion and great favorite for the title Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati), referring to the change in the GP programming: One of the four training sessions has been eliminated, and now the screening for the classification (Q1 and Q2) will be done on Friday in the two free trials. “Last year Friday was not important and this year it will be a lot because you have a quasi-qualifier with FP2 to be able to enter the top 10”, highlights Aleix Espargaró. Result in sight: more stress.
And on Saturday, more tension. “It will be hectic”, says Joan Mir (Repsol Honda), since qualifying for the two grids will come together and 3 and a half hours later, the Sprint race. “It will surely generate stress for us, we are used to finishing qualifying and disconnecting. And now you have to go back. It will be different, stressful, but with more shows, so better. It’s cool”, says Àlex Márquez (Ducati Gresini).
But, above all, what upsets the drivers the most is how to face a second race that is worth half. Do you risk or keep thinking about Sunday?
Jorge Martín is clear about it: “The approach will depend a lot on the position in which you find yourself in the short race: the first three can take good points, but between finishing fifth or sixth it doesn’t matter, you don’t get a point ”, comments the Ducati Pramac. “So you won’t risk an overtaking in which you can hurt yourself, and you’ll reserve a little for Sunday. If I established the grid for Sunday, yes, you would risk it, but if it does not vary, in the end you will do what you can ”.
On the contrary, Àlex Rins (LCR Honda) predicts that “nobody is going to reserve anything. In the end, even if it is half the points from Sunday, they are still points; In my case, I’m going to go out and give it my all”, says the Barcelonan from Nou Barris, while Bagnaia predicts that “he will have to push like hell without thinking about the rear tyre”. Just like his teammate Enea Bastianini, for whom “there will be no strategies, he will force you to show yourself quickly from the beginning, without thinking about Sunday.”
Ambition will prevail over speculation, especially for those who are not favorites in the long run, according to Àlex Márquez. “Watch out: there are 12 points at stake, and every weekend counts a lot. Many things will happen, pikes, touches, there is more to win than lose ”.
The most critical of the novelty is Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), since “it goes from a season of 21 races to another with 42. If it helps to grow the fans, it will be positive, but the Sprints carry an additional risk: they force you to go to the limit because there are many points at stake”, justifies the Frenchman.
Marc Márquez, favorable to everything that is to increase the show, anticipates “intense weekends, physically and especially mentally”, but believes that the format can be adjusted in the safety commission. “Well, I think that the entire calendar is going to be like this, very demanding, so the best thing to do is to be relaxed, with a positive attitude and give your all”, says Aleix Espargaró.
The Algarve slide-circuit will put it to the test this Saturday.
