MotoGP’s third-ever sprint race offering, a 10-lap contest at the Circuit of the Americas, proved to be easily the most serene edition by far, contrasting with the much rowdier sprints at Portimao and Termas de Rio Hondo.
Though the first two half-distance races of 2023 proved thrilling, the format has brought a mixed reaction so far from many on the MotoGP grid – thanks, among other things, to the chaos unfolding in them, potentially exaggerating the already-present extra risk that comes with doubling the number of race starts. Both pre-season title contender Enea Bastianini and 2020 world champion Joan Mir have already missed races after contact with other bikes in the early going of a sprint.
However, Austin hosted a decidedly less energetic sprint battle and the only crashes – for Fabio Quartararo, Michele Pirro and Alex Marquez – came thanks to solo mistakes.
Though riders were far from universally convinced that sprints were actually more aggressive than Sunday races due to the shorter distance, one of the ones who had argued the case most eloquently was VR46 Ducati rider Luca Marini. Marini, however, was hopeful that more experience with the sprints would lead to the action settling down – and believes this is exactly what he saw at COTA.
“Today everybody was riding really well,” said Marini, who got to observe and participate in much wheel-to-wheel battling after dropping back from his front row start with a first-corner braking mishap and having to fight his way back through to seventh.
“I saw correct moves from everybody. Everyone was careful in the hairpins because everyone knows that this track is very dangerous to try overtakes in corners one and 11.
“I saw a lot of riders, including myself, who have learned a lot from the past sprint races. It was just a normal race, here in this track.
“It’s easier to overtake in this track, so you try and manage when and how to overtake a little bit. There are more hotspots.”
When asked by The Race whether Marini’s view was also accurate a bit further down the order, Tech3 Gas Gas rookie Augusto Fernandez said: “Yeah, it’s true. Also at the back everybody was a little bit more calm in the first corners.
“Seems like after a few races we are a little bit more relaxed. Everybody wants to try to score points and try to finish.”
It was a view also in large part backed up by Ducati’s reigning world champion Pecco Bagnaia. Yet Bagnaia was one of many to suggest the more peaceful nature of the Saturday contest was circumstantial.
“For me we are getting used to the sprint races,” said Saturday’s winner, before noting a caveat.
“For sure the track helps, because it has less points where you can do crazy things.
“If you consider that at the first race the battle was too intense, the second one had some touching and some contact but not as much, and that this one was more calm, then maybe we are getting used to it.”
“I think more than that we are calm, it’s the kind of track,” was LCR Honda rider Alex Rins’ take. “On this track you have quite a lot of hotspots to overtake but not as many as in Portimao.
“Also, the hot conditions of today’s race was super high, and already to brake behind some other riders I was feeling some [tyre] locking. It was more difficult than usual.”
KTM’s Brad Binder expressed a similar sentiment, stressing that the weather conditions placed a big limitation and that the track was not conducive to “do or die” moves and punished getting “overexcited” more than any other venue. And his team-mate Jack Miller felt riders’ aggression was curbed by them having to manage the unique physical demands of COTA.
The high pace set by the leaders, spreading out the pack, was a factor cited by Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro. Five riders went below the fastest grand prix lap record from 2022.
“For me it’s about the speed,” said Espargaro, who previously acknowledged he did not enjoy the aggression that the sprints had brought out.
“Every time somebody in front pushes and the speed is high, you will see that the race will be more calm. Obviously it’s race three, everybody is a bit more relaxed. Many injuries, yeah, for sure, that’s in the head of every rider.
“But today Pecco pushed in front very, very strongly, and the riders behind tried to follow him very closely. The pace was crazy.”
Honda tester Stefan Bradl, competing in his first sprint as stand-in for Marc Marquez, didn’t sound entirely convinced that the action was significantly calmed down, but did zero in on a theory for why that would be logical.
“For some riders there is a little more to win [in the sprint], but for most of them there is very little to gain and so much to lose,” he said.
