How Does a MotoGP™ Sprint Race Work?

MotoGP™ Sprint races are run at approximately 50% of full race distance and the riders are awarded points in them at roughly half the scale of a full MotoGP™ race.

MotoGP™ Sprint races, officially known as the Tissot Sprint, bring an intensity and added level of thrilling action to Grand Prix weekends.

Run at approximately 50% of full race distance, the MotoGP™ Sprint race maximises the spectacle for fans across the Grand Prix weekend, offering them a thrilling Saturday afternoon buzz of racing action, in anticipation of Sunday’s full-distance race.

Introduced for the 2023 season, the MotoGP™ Sprint has quickly become a fan favourite thanks to its ability to deliver high-adrenaline racing, its impact on riders’ approaches to the overall Grand Prix weekend, and their implications in the battle for the World Championship.

MotoGP™ Sprint racing adds extra colour to Grand Prix Saturdays
MotoGP™ Sprint racing adds extra colour to Grand Prix Saturdays

MotoGP™ Sprint Races: What they are and how they work  

A MotoGP™ Sprint race operates under the same sporting rules as the main race, but at half-distance. Whereas a full MotoGP™ race usually lasts for 40-45 minutes, the Sprint is scheduled for approximately 50% of the number of laps of the main race and lasts for around 20 minutes.

The Sprint race points system allocates roughly half of those awarded in the main MotoGP™ race, and rewards the top nine finishers on the following scale:

Position

Sprint points awarded

Full race points awarded

1

12

25

2

9

20

3

7

16

4

6

13

5

5

11

6

4

10

7

3

9

8

2

8

9

1

7

10

-

6

11

-

5

12

-

4

13

-

3

14

-

2

15

-

1

 

This scoring scale maintains the balance between the Sprint and the full-length race, ensuring that the Sunday race still carries the greatest weight and impact on the World Championship standings.

The points on offer for the MotoGP™ Sprint provide a significant enough return for riders to impact their approach to the weekend though, and are influential in the overall championship standings.

How the MotoGP™ Sprint can influence the Championship battle

In the 2024 World Championship, eventual MotoGP™ World Champion Jorge Martin won three full races to runner-up Francesco Bagnaia’s 11, with both taking seven Sprint wins.

Highlighting how important consistency now is in the era of the MotoGP™ Sprint, Martin finished inside the top three on 16 occasions in Sprints in 2024, scoring 43 points more than Bagnaia on Saturdays.

Jorge Martin rode consistently well in MotoGP™ Sprints in 2024
Jorge Martin rode consistently well in MotoGP™ Sprints in 2024

That helped him to overhaul the 33 points by which Bagnaia outscored him on Sundays. Martin won the 2024 MotoGP™ title by 10 points from his rival.

While Sprint points have already proven their value in the championship battle, Sprint victories are not counted as Grand Prix victories, and in the event of a tie in Championship points at the end of a season the number of Sprint wins is not a deciding factor.

How Sprint Races are scheduled

The MotoGP™ Sprint race takes place at 3pm on the Saturday of a Grand Prix, and their introduction for the 2023 season came with a restructuring of the overall race weekend format.

The MotoGP™class has two practice sessions on a Friday, one of 45 minutes in the morning and another of 60 minutes in the afternoon. The 60-minute session decides who takes part in Q1 and who gets an automatic place in Q2. Then on Saturday morning there is another 30-minute practice session followed by a 15-minute Qualifying 1 (Q1) and then a 15-minute Qualifying 2 (Q2).

Then it’s time for the first point-scoring contest of the weekend, the MotoGP™Sprint.

On Sunday morning MotoGP™ riders get a 10-minute warm up session in the morning, before the premier class race at 2pm.

Incredibly close racing in MotoGP™ Sprints
Incredibly close racing in MotoGP™ Sprints

The Sprint’s positioning on the Saturday afternoon is part of a schedule that gives fans an exciting action-packed spectacle on each day of the MotoGP™ race weekend. Friday afternoon practice is timed, Saturday’s Sprint is a compact and intensified battle, and Sunday’s Grand Prix race is the main showpiece event.

MotoGP™ Sprint rules: How they differ from feature length races

Grid positions for the Sprint and the Sunday race are determined by the same qualifying procedure, which decides the starting positions for both with one single process.

Friday afternoon’s 60-minute practice session is timed and the top 10 fastest riders progress automatically to Q2, with the remaining riders progressing to Q1.

Saturday morning’s practice session then provides a chance to prepare for qualifying. The fastest two riders in Q1 move forward to Q2, and this session determines the top 12 positions on the starting grid for the Sprint and for the Sunday MotoGP™ race.

MotoGP™ Tissot Sprint competitive from the off
MotoGP™ Tissot Sprint competitive from the off

With regards to the regulations of the Sprint, while the overall race rules are the same as for the feature-length race there are some key differences.

The fuel load for a motorcycle in the Sprint is limited to 12 litres as opposed to the 22 litres permitted for a race, corresponding to the halved racing distance.

Another regulatory area where the Sprint and feature-length race differ is the track limit rules. In the Sprint, the number of permitted infringements before a penalty is handed out is three, as opposed to five on a Sunday.

Impact of Sprint Races on riders and teams

The MotoGP™ Sprint has had an exciting and dramatic impact on the MotoGP™ World Championship, with teams and riders having many more considerations to take into account throughout a Grand Prix weekend and the addition of an extra ‘race’ sharpening the competitive edge amongst rivals.

With qualifying now dictating a rider’s starting position for two contests instead of just one, all track time in the lead-up to Saturday afternoon has become even more important than ever.

Greater tension and increased stakes on the practice and qualifying sessions have placed the riders under more pressure to perform in qualifying, making the overall weekend a more engrossing storyline for fans.

The physical and mental demands of racing on a Saturday and again on a Sunday also influence rider preparations. Riders have always had to be in peak condition for all sessions, but whereas in practice and qualifying they may have brief moments of respite, in the Sprint there are none.

The MotoGP™ Sprint is short and intense and the concentration and physical exertion must be just that, while in the Sunday MotoGP™ race the emphasis can sometimes shift to a more measured and sustainable expenditure of energies. 

From a tactical point-of-view, while tyre-management strategy may not be quite as significant in the shorter Sprint as it is in the longer GP race, riders often need to be more aggressive and pounce on every opportunity in the Sprint, knowing there is less time to make progress and gain positions.

MotoGP™ Sprint - 2024 Motorrad Austrian Grand Prix
MotoGP™ Sprint - 2024 Motorrad Austrian Grand Prix

Combine all of the above with the fact that a result in a Sprint can ease or increase the pressure on a rider and team for Sunday’s Grand Prix race, and the dynamic of the racing weekend is a delicate balance that has evolved.

While the points on offer on Saturdays may be less than on Grand Prix Sundays, the Sprint can impact the chess game that is the championship. As outlined above with Martin’s 2024 title win, the need for consistency in both is essential to rider and team ambitions in the World Championship battle.

What do fans think about MotoGP™ Sprints?

The reactions of fans to the Sprint has been overwhelmingly positive, with the MotoGP™ race weekend format gaining a lot of praise from fans who enjoy the progress of the sessions through qualifying and racing.

The entertainment factor has also been a huge talking point. The added drama of a second burst of racing each weekend, its influence on the following day’s longer race and its place in the season-long narrative have all helped elevate the entertainment factor for observers.

The MotoGP™ Sprint has added to the drama of the fight for the World Championship too. In the final round of the 2023 season in Valencia, Martin and Bagnaia took the fight for the title to the last Grand Prix of the campaign.

Martin took victory in a thriller of a Sprint to close the gap to championship leader Bagnaia to 14 points heading into Sunday’s race, and poise things dramatically for the showdown which Bagnaia eventually won.

Overall sentiment around their entertainment value and the added excitement they have undoubtedly brought to MotoGP™ race weekends means they have continued to generate a growing buzz at each round.

Want to see how crucial Sprint races have become? Dive into Jorge Martin’s 2024 MotoGP™ title-winning season and see how Sprint victories helped him become World Champion!

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