The big rumour in the paddock this weekend is that MotoGP could be set to run ‘sprint races’ as early as next year.
What?
Sprint races have been successfully introduced over the past few years into boring motorsport categories like F1 and WSBK as a last ditch attempt to make them less tedious. MotoGP is said to be considering running three sprint races in the season at tracks based entirely randomly on who offers Dorna the most money.
Why?
F1’s theory was that if you added an extra race with an exciting name there’s double the chance that something remotely interesting might happen. Sadly in F1’s case it meant that the race weekend just ended up twice as boring.
So why would MotoGP copy the format of lesser-motorsports? Is it a good or bad thing? Let’s find out more…
Pros
More races
Think back to the off-season and how utterly rubbish it always is. It’s so terrible we get excited about the new colour schemes of the bikes and if Brad Binder has grown any more superfluous teeth. What we want is races. So why would we not jump at the opportunity to see more?
An extra race during a weekend would mean more excitement in front of the TV and less time pointlessly interacting with the family.
More opportunities for Zarco to win
A sprint race may allow the Roquefort-friendly Primark rider to finally win a race. The shorter format will give Johann less time to fall off whilst leading and could, in theory at least, present the Frenchman a chance to taste the victory champagne. Obviously this won’t happen whilst ever he has a hole in his beret but it’s an interesting idea non-the-less.
More fans on Saturday
When going trackside to watch MotoGP is always tempting to go on the Saturday instead. Ticket prices are cheaper. Parking easier. And, crucially, less time queuing up to visit the crapper after that dodgy burger you paid £16 for finds its way out via the path of least resistance.
But Saturday, despite qualifying, still isn’t the same as being sat in the grandstands on Sunday trying to watch the race on a big screen that slightly at the wrong angle.
Saturday sprint races would change all that. You could experience all the fun of not being able to see what’s going on in the race but on a Saturday instead. Bonus if you’re a God botherer.
Cons
Having kids
If you have children there’s a good chance they don’t want to ever interact with you. That didn’t used to be the case but thankfully the iPad was created to help create an exciting barrier between you and your annoying offspring.
But it’s summer. And you should be outside ‘building memories’ with them based mainly around them wanting you to buy them stuff or moaning that they want to go home where the WiFi is better. But chances are you’ll still have to do this or be shamed into bodging some annoying DIY task that you’d prefer to leave for another year.
All this makes sitting down and watching three hours of MotoGP on a Sunday harder than teaching Shakespeare to a pigeon. So how will you then find the extra time on Saturday to watch the sprint race as well?
Spoiler alert
Given the above maybe you could watch the sprint race later in the week? No point. Given that the sprint race will probably decide Sunday’s grid you will instantly know the results by the qualifying position for Sunday’s race. Annoying
Boring race
When F1 introduced sprint races they predicted an exciting and furious dash for victory. But what they got was an even more watered-down retinal insult. Why? Risk vs Reward. The sprint race has far less points on offer so why risk doing anything if crashing would then mean you start from the back of the grid? Just stay where you are and don’t try very hard – knowing that those around you can’t risk trying either.
Obviously F1’s case is far worse due to the fact that ‘racing’ is frowned upon by the FIA. But in MotoGP’s case a rider is far more likely to get injured in a crash than an F1 android. Darryn Binder on average currently has two weeks to recover from his injuries before the next race. But if the next race is just 24 hours away he may not be able to start – meaning his team will then have the exact same chance of scoring points.
Why change?
No one likes change. Especially if you’re changing something that’s not broken. This would be like Marquez going in for surgery on his none-toilet flushing arm.
So what do think about sprint races? Yay or Nay?