Anyone else think the sprints are going to end up being bad for the sport?

Hey guys,

My initial concerns when the sprints were announced were 1) it’s gimmicky and takes away from the actual race day and 2) guys will get hurt because they have to push so hard in a race that short.

The answer to the first is just personal preference. We can agree or disagree on it.

But the second one seems to have already come through. Luca Marini who crashes so few times during a season you can count them on one hand crashed more last weekend than all last season, and gave Bastianini a broken shoulder blade. I believe 4 riders are out of Argentina due to injury (Marquez, Oliveira, Bastianini, and I can’t remember the 4th). How on earth does losing almost 20% of your riders in a weekend make sense for the long haul?

I’m curious your thoughts on this.

Take care, fellas!
John

Gen Z has a 30 second attention span. Sports organizations are looking for way to appeal to the Tiktok generation that can't be bother to pay attention to anything that's not a quick social media clip.

It's simple, Dorna loves money more than fans and the riders.

Yes. MotoGP is NOT Nascar. Sprint races serve no valid purpose.

4-6 sprint races a year would be fine like in F1. As we all saw, they can be exciting, but I also fear that they will take luster out of the main events. I'll wait and see.

Considering it's an additional 21 races it's going to have, IMO, a deleterious effect. As stated in the race thread, riders are pushing hard to get to the front due to the shortness of the race and mistakes are happening and taking people out. As a fan I enjoy additional races but not at the expense of riders getting punted to the tarmac and going to hospital. I'll be at COTA and I'd like to see a full grid. I'll be bummed if Bastianini and Olivera are not there.

jvs9932 said:

(Marquez, Oliveira, Bastianini, and I can’t remember the 4th).

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The 4th rider is Pol Espargaro.

2 starts/opening laps per weekend, the first occurring in a sprint race in which the consequences of being shuffled back at the start are even more damaging to a rider’s prospects than in a full length race. What could possibly go wrong ?.

Dorna still thinks these race bike things are funny 2 wheeled cars and F1 protocols can be applied unchanged to motogp bike racing. As someone said even F1 only runs the sprint races fairly rarely, not every round.

How about a real change? Drop the sprints and make all races 35 lappers. This would add endurance to the mix, for the rider and machine. Make a pit stop for fuel/tires mandatory for tire changes (not) bike changes. Riders should only compete on the bike they qualified with. No switching bikes, even for a rain tire equipped bike for example. Used to be that way. F1 does it. Ynot?

Have not watched a sprint race, and do not have any planned in the future as for me, it just aint the MotoGP as it is now known that I find of interest.

To me, it is as some have said, a grab for attention and money based on what would seem to be market forces driven by lower 'attention spans' of a market segment, not yet fully tapped. I personally fear that it will become like T20 cricket (and even now we have 100 ball games) in that the promoters make it the main show.

Sprint racing in MotoGP terms i fraught with danger and risk, something already apparent with riders injured in the sprint race now missing from the main event.

I am in the brigade that improve the main show, do not add on some ........ tacky attention seeking advertisements putting at risk teh very people that you need for the main show and the essence of Grands Prix racing. Plus, I do not want to see MotoGP go the way of high scoring world championships just so we can create a new world record every year with 'most points scored by a world champion' type of BS.

If the show is lacking, figure out why and address but also do not forget that it is only a very short time since the golden goose left and for mine, these sprint BS smack of trying to invent a new golden goose. If as some have claimed in columns for a year or so, the sport is in danger than return it to the roots. Allow true prototype within tight technical regulations, bring back tyre competition, the stuff that has worked in the past as it will still and wlays attarct the true revhead fan,

heck, why not even mix up the racing and have a minimum length single event but also have some longer races to test in other ways. Hell, have a race or races where fuel stops are mandatory, tyre changes, something a little outside of the made for tv ........ that is sprints (and yes, I recognise and will call out the safety aspects of some of the above)

I am an old, dyed in the wool, stuck in the mud fuddy duddy that not all things from past eras are bad or need changing, and that sometimes change for changes sake is not beneficial to the activity.

MotoGP, DORNA and the like need to move on from the golden goose and start to sell the sport and personalities within it today and not try to manufacture tha artificial of good versus bad, villain versus hero to sell copy

Oh yeah, in case this does not read it ................... I am no fan of the sprint stuff

Gaz said:

bring back tyre competition,

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I may be way off base but I believe bringing back the tire wars would greatly improve the level of competition. Riders like what they like for a reason and if they have the rubber under them they truly want, then they are more confident and IMO, ride better.

Yes, another old traditionalist here. But, it’s 2023 and these new fans need ENTERTAINMENT apparently. Which means lots of action. The way I see it, they haven’t been schooled in the art of motorcycle racing and have no interest in that aspect of the sport. I may be wrong, but that’s the way it looks to me.

I can wish for it but I can’t see all out prototype racing with freedom to have whatever tires you want and all of the old freedoms teams had in today’s environment.

Today it’s more like Rome with the gladiators. That’s the audience Dorna is going for.

moto vudu said:

Gen Z has a 30 second attention span. Sports organizations are looking for way to appeal to the Tiktok generation that can't be bother to pay attention to anything that's not a quick social media clip.

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Yeah, those damn gen Z folks. Investing in cameras, mics, lighting, taking a few hours to record, edit and craft a popping 30 sec vid. All with no attention span. AMAZING

They should make a tiktok account for Mark Marquez' races, no more than 60 seconds videos needed.

jvs9932 said:

Hey guys,

My initial concerns when the sprints were announced were 1) it’s gimmicky and takes away from the actual race day and 2) guys will get hurt because they have to push so hard in a race that short.

The answer to the first is just personal preference. We can agree or disagree on it.

But the second one seems to have already come through. Luca Marini who crashes so few times during a season you can count them on one hand crashed more last weekend than all last season, and gave Bastianini a broken shoulder blade. I believe 4 riders are out of Argentina due to injury (Marquez, Oliveira, Bastianini, and I can’t remember the 4th). How on earth does losing almost 20% of your riders in a weekend make sense for the long haul?

I’m curious your thoughts on this.

Take care, fellas!
John

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Right now, I don’t think the manufacturers give a ..... They have been drastically cutting salaries for the last 2 cycles and the pipeline is full of young talent who will race for peanuts . In case anyone hasn’t noticed , the motorcycle industry is in a bit of trouble like most of the worlds economy and racing budgets keep getting smaller and smaller . GP as we know it is almost gone. You will never see another Marquez like contract in the foreseeable future.

I am not a fan of the Sprint races, if people continue getting hurt then they should stop them altogether.

BTW, a considerable chunk of Dorna is owned by the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, you better believe they are all about making a profit, and I am not sure how many of them even know much about MotoGP or even care.

nick666 said:

They should make a tiktok account for Mark Marquez' races, no more than 60 seconds videos needed.

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Fortunately there are seasons and seasons of race videos to watch if one is so inclined which show him easily beating Valentino Rossi.

povol said:

Right now, I don’t think the manufacturers give a ..... They have been drastically cutting salaries for the last 2 cycles and the pipeline is full of young talent who will race for peanuts

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So, total left field thought ........................... have this young talant and test riders only be the ones that race in the sprints.

Points awarded and calculated as team/manufacturer championship points but not to the rider championship - means that the teams/manufacturers need to take it seriously from a point side and with no MotoGP riders involved, lessens the risk of injury impacting the championship season.

All bikes scrutineered as per regulations but use the sprint as a test of componentry and riders while introducing the next generation if the next generation get involved. Allow cross-pollination between series (ie. allow WSBK riders to compete) as the sprint is effectively a testing session but with the seriousness of manufacturer points.

Allow practice sessions but minimise to a single session for track familiarity

Many of theset eams have sufficient resources for this kind of activity with the exception of dollars but that becomes a DORNA funded session

DavidSim said:

...a considerable chunk of Dorna is owned by the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, you better believe they are all about making a profit...

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Most recent figures:

After recording losses of €94.5m in 2020, Dorna closed 2021 at around the break-even mark.

Profits my ....

povol said:

Right now, I don’t think the manufacturers give a ..... They have been drastically cutting salaries for the last 2 cycles and the pipeline is full of young talent who will race for peanuts . In case anyone hasn’t noticed , the motorcycle industry is in a bit of trouble like most of the worlds economy and racing budgets keep getting smaller and smaller . GP as we know it is almost gone. You will never see another Marquez like contract in the foreseeable future.

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Hey Down-Home, good to see you back here. Always appreciate your takes, even when I disagree, which is rare.