Here's Which Manufacturer Blocked The New 2023 Format Change
Categories: MotoGP
On Thursday, representatives of the MotoGP manufacturer and Dorna met to discuss a format change that many teams had wanted. For 2023, however, nothing has come off it.
After the first very exhausting race weekends with the new Sprint schedule, many teams and riders want a format change.
In 2023 the pre-qualification for Q2 will be decided in the practice sessions on Friday. For riders and teams, this means a lot of stress at the start of the race weekend – there is hardly any time for sensible development work or even getting used to the bikes.
Practice 1 on Friday morning, which is currently one of the decisive factors for pre-qualifying for Q2, is to become a free practice session again.
According to the general consensus especially among the riders, teams need more time for development, and injured riders need a certain amount of time to acclimatize.
However, when it comes to voting on a direct introduction of the suggested change, one manufacturer is once again drawing displeasure on them.
Ducati, currently the measure of all things in MotoGP, prevented a format change at Silverstone – supporters of the change will now have to wait until the 2024 season.
Ducati Blocks New Format Change
We can speculate about the reasons, but one thing is clear: less free practice time means less time to test new parts for other manufacturers.
Aprilia factory rider Aleix Espargaro reacted angrily after the practice sessions on Friday, saying he would have liked to see a change at Silverstone since, after all, it was about the safety of the riders.
“I was very angry yesterday. All riders, it looked like, were pushing to change the Friday schedule to make free practice one ‘free’,” he began.
“But it looks like Ducati does not agree. They voted against this. We asked for this change not for a competitive thing, it was more for safety to avoid crashes in practice one, to be more relaxed and just stress everyone in the last 15 minutes of FP2.”
The opinions of the Ducati bosses and their riders seem to differ. Espargaro notes:
“It’s strange because their riders, believe me, were in favor to change that. But the bosses of Ducati don’t. So, it will stay like this for the rest of the season.”
