Termas delays force a MotoGP experiment – but who wants it?
The late arrival of freight in Argentina means the Termas de Rio Hondo MotoGP round has become a two-day event. That will effectively mean trialling a format that’s been suggested for some time – but will there be any benefits?
While the major disruption to this weekend’s Argentina MotoGP round due to logistical chaos at Termas de Rio Hondo might be causing the teams huge headaches, the unique events of the weekend so far also give the series an opportunity to try out an idea that’s been mooted for some time to cope with an ever-expanding character.
The suggestion of cutting events from three track days to two has been discussed for some time, with a shorter weekend schedule meaning reduced costs for the teams and, more importantly as the calendar grows to a record 21 races, one day less away from home every weekend.
It’s even something that MotoGP briefly toyed with in the past, with Friday morning’s FP1 sessions previously cut from the race weekend at the height of the 2009 financial crisis but reinstalled as team budgets improved and amid pressure from the manufacturers for more track time.
The idea has been met with consideration from some of the riders on the grid now that they’re being forced to try it out. One who was not completely opposed to it was reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo, who told The Race he doesn’t think it would have a significant impact on the order of things were it to happen.
“In the end, it’s always the same,” he said. “If your bike is working straight away, you only need one day. But as soon as you have a little bit of difficulty, you need all the night and the morning to think about it.
“It’s difficult to say, but it’ll be a great experience to test only two days. We know that if we have many more GPs it’ll be much more difficult. From my point of view I like to be moving around, but for the mechanics with families it’s harder.”
RNF Yamaha rider Andrea Dovizioso said he was “really interested to try” the two-day format, having proposed it in MotoGP safety commission meetings where “it wasn’t something too important”.
“Now we’re in the situation where we have to try, and I’m really interested,” said Dovizioso. “We are in a strange situation because Argentina is not a normal weekend, because the track is not [grippy] like in Europe, where normally it’s OK and clean, so it will not be a normal practice, like every year in Argentina.
“But in any case I’m happy and interested to try the two days. I had that idea in the past, and I don’t know if that will be good. You have to try things to understand the positive and the negative things.”
Aleix Espargaro, whose Aprilia team is believed to be one of those most in favour of the experiment, was less convinced.
Espargaro is one of only two riders for the Italian factory on the grid, with no satellite machines to help gather data, and stressed that reducing track time would have a significant impact not just on Aprilia’s long-term development but in setting up its bikes for the weekend.
“In reality, you can adapt to whatever happens, and if they decide on a two-day weekend we can adapt,” he accepted.
“But, with the amount of technology we have right now, with the things we have to try, it’s very, very difficult. You can’t imagine how late my engineers leave the track every Friday night. Sometimes they have meetings until 11pm at night, and at 8am they’re working again.
“This means that we really need this time to work, and if you concentrate all this into one single day it’s going to be very difficult. They need a lot of data to prepare the bike, and I think in MotoGP today it’s very difficult to do.”
From a team’s perspective, while the idea might mean less spent on hotels and a little more time spent at home, it’s not necessarily a saving that meets the cost-benefit reward either, at least according to Tech3 KTM boss Herve Poncharal.
The proposal is something he’s investigated in detail not just as a team boss but also as the long-standing head of the IRTA teams’ association, and he’s not quite ready yet to push for a change to the weekend format.
“This idea has been one of many on the agenda for some years,” Poncharal told The Race, “and every single year there are some people who are suggesting different racing formats. But regarding spectators and media interest, a three-day format is the one that’s always been supported by most of the people.
“Dorna the promoter will follow what teams, manufacturers and media are asking for, and we’ve talked quite a lot about the format. The riders don’t like the [two-day] format very much, nor the factories and to be honest me.
“Sure, it can help on overseas back-to-back races in case we face a situation like the one we’re facing now, but when you’re back in Europe with a more normal calendar the saving is almost nothing.
“Never say never, because we are trying to reduce the costs, reduce the travelling time – but I support three days.”
And while the experimental format may be forced upon series promotor Dorna this weekend in Argentina, CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta said the promoter was not prepared to shake things up until it had seen how it played out this weekend.
“We’ve talked a lot about that,” he said, echoing Poncheral’s comments, “and if you remember after the 2008 crisis we cancelled Friday morning [practice]. But in the end the people asked for it to come back because to have a good race on Sunday you need two days of practice.
“We cancelled one day at the A1 Ring [Red Bull Ring] because of a big storm, here also we cancelled the first day of the first grand prix – but the idea is still to remain with three days unless everyone changes their mind. It’s not a lot of saving of money and it’s worse for the overall show.”
Dovizioso conceded the current amount of track time at race weekends, and during testing, was “never enough”, especially for the factory teams and riders. But he added that an extended amount of practice time was not a key factor in whether the weekend culminated in “a good battle in the race”.
“It can be good for everybody to do two days instead of three,” he said. “When it’s the same for everybody, two or three is the same.
“I’ve always had that thing in my mind, but maybe I’m wrong and I will confirm to you after this weekend.”
