After surveys among all those involved, such as fans, teams, plants and organizers, one thing is certain: in 2023, a sprint race with half points will take place at all Grand Prix on Saturday.
In recent months, Dorna and IRTA officials have been thinking regarding how to make the MotoGP World Championship more attractive. A global survey was launched among the fans, the teams were interviewed, the team owners, the TV station managers and the organizers.
Following recent Grand Prix Commission meetings, it is clear that the format will change for the season, but only for the premier class. Because on Saturday following FP4 and the Q1 and Q2 qualifying sessions, a sprint race will take place over half the race distance next season, so only half points will be awarded.
“It’s an exciting weekend for MotoGP,” revealed Hervé Poncharal in Spielberg on Friday at the press conference on GASGAS’ entry into MotoGP. The Tech3 Team Owner and IRTA President added meaningfully: “MotoGP is being shaken up with a very exciting new format, that of Carmelo and Carlos [Ezpeleta] might be announced very soon.”
The new format is intended to make Saturday more attractive for spectators on the TV screens and to attract more spectators to the route on Saturday as well.
Similar concepts with the sprint races on Saturday already exist in Formula 1, in the Superbike World Championship and in the British Superbike Championship (BSB).
