The MotoGP World Championship introduced sprint races across all Grands Prix as part of a broader move to intensify the weekend show for fans on track and screens. A collective decision from the sport’s lead bodies aims to deliver more action on Saturdays, while keeping Sundays focused on the marquee race. This shift, announced this Saturday by the sport’s organizers, marks a new chapter in how the season is presented and experienced by enthusiasts, teams, and broadcasters across North America and beyond.
Representatives from FIM, IRTA, MSMA, and Dorna Sports explained that a fresh competition format would be rolled out for the 2023 season. Sprint races will appear at every Grand Prix weekend, creating a consistently high-energy program that fans can anticipate from Friday through Sunday. The aim is to elevate the weekend rhythm with shorter, high-intensity bouts that complement the traditional full-length races, offering more on-track moments and tighter competition for spectators and followers on digital platforms alike.
Key figures in the sport, including Carmelo Ezpeleta, Chief Executive Officer of Dorna, FIM President Jorge Viegas, and IRTA President Hervé Poncharal, participated in the announcement during a press conference at the Red Bull Ring. The venue, already famous for hosting this year’s Austrian Grand Prix, became the setting to outline how the new Saturdays would unfold and what fans can expect as the season develops. The press briefing underscored the collaborative nature of the decision and highlighted the sport’s commitment to transparency and excitement for the global audience that tunes in from the United States, Canada, and other regions.
On Saturdays, sprint races will occur at 15:00 local time during each Grand Prix and will cover roughly half the distance of the main race. The sprint awards a compact scoreboard with points for the top finishers, with 12 points for the winner, followed by 9 and 7 for second and third place, and a single point awarded to the ninth place finisher. This new framework brings a tangible incentive for riders to push hard from start to finish, while also reshaping strategic decisions across teams as they weigh tire choices, fuel loads, and rider fatigue against a condensed race format. The sprint itself becomes a precise test of speed, stamina, and racecraft, offering fans a thrilling shorter spectacle that sits alongside the longer Sunday show.
Despite the evolution in Saturday programming, Sunday’s action remains focused on the traditional qualifying structure and the main race. The grid is still determined through the standard Q1-Q2 format, so the sprint does not directly set the Sunday starting order as it does in some other series. This separation preserves the integrity of the weekend’s competitive order while injecting a new layer of drama into the Saturday schedule. The organizers clarified that the sprint results influence the weekend narrative but do not disrupt the established progression toward Sunday’s race. For fans, this means more moments of decision, more overtakes, and a richer storyline across the two days of racing that make up a Grand Prix weekend. The overall plan was designed to keep the sport accessible and entertaining for audiences tuning in from Canada and the United States, as well as for international spectators who follow the championship closely online and through broadcast partners.
Looking ahead to the 2023 schedule, the calendar features two focus-packed workouts on Fridays, with the combined results guiding entry into Q2 for direct classification. On Saturday morning, the premier class will take to the track for a 30-minute free practice session, which mirrors the length and intent of the current FP4 session. That session is followed by Q1 and Q2, which determine the lineup for the sprint and the subsequent Sunday race. The sprint is scheduled for 15:00 on Saturdays, becoming a key element of the weekend’s rhythm. Sunday remains the day of the main event, with the MotoGP race positioned as the final act of each Grand Prix, closing out the weekend with the same sense of anticipation and competition that fans have come to expect. This revised format aims to maintain a coherent and compelling schedule that appeals to traditional followers while drawing in new fans who crave rapid, dynamic action and clear competitive stakes across the two days of racing.