The MotoGP World Championship, which is a premier class of motorcycle road racing, has decided to modify its weekend format from the 2024 season. The change is being made to reduce the pressure on riders to perform in the qualifying sessions and allow them to work on their bikes more efficiently.
Details of the New Format
The 2023 season of MotoGP saw the introduction of half-distance sprint races, which made it necessary to change the entire makeup of a race weekend. Qualifying took place on Saturday morning, and the results decided the grid for both the sprint and the grand prix. Another significant change was made to Friday’s running, where the combined order at the end of FP2 decided which riders advanced straight through to Q2 in qualifying.
However, a number of riders complained that this change was stopping them from being able to work on their bikes. In response to this, an extraordinary meeting was held at Assen on Thursday, where the parties involved in the MotoGP World Championship agreed on a modification in the weekend format with a view to next season.
The new format will make the cut-off between the riders contesting Q1 and Q2 come out only from the second free practice on Friday. The rest of the weekend format will remain the same in 2024, with a 30-minute FP3 preceding qualifying on Saturdays.
Initially, there was a possibility of implementing this change in the 2023 season. However, due to a lack of unanimity among the members of the manufacturers’ association (MSMA), the measure was postponed until 2024.
The new format has given a good shake-up to the weekends of the premier class. At first, some riders complained of an increase in aggressiveness, especially in the early stages of the sprint races on Saturdays. However, with the passage of time, these critical voices have faded away.
The MotoGP World Championship has decided to modify its weekend format from the 2024 season. The change is being made to reduce the pressure on riders to perform in the qualifying sessions and to allow them to work on their bikes more efficiently. The new format will make the cut-off between the riders contesting Q1 and Q2 come out only from the second free practice on Friday. The rest of the weekend format will remain the same in 2024, with a 30-minute FP3 preceding qualifying on Saturdays. Initially, there was a possibility of implementing this change in the 2023 season, but it was postponed due to a lack of unanimity among the members of the manufacturers’ association (MSMA).
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