Moto GP: new race weekend format and changes to grid pattern for 2011

The two primary changes agreed at a meeting of the FIM yesterday in Madrid were

- Although the number of days in a race weekend will remain the same, there will now be four practice sessions per class.

- the starting grid will be arranged in rows of three riders instead of four.

The increase in running time will mean additional pressure on circuit owners to ensure that the track is cleared as quickly as possible after an accident to avoid delay. This will undoubtedly lead to in increase in the use of energy absorbing barriers to be placed around fallen riders so as to minimise the risk of red flags.

It will also mean longer running times which, in countries with an early dusk, may mean earlier starts. The costs of staffing circuits will, therefore, also rise.

But for teams, and spectators, there are a number of advantages: first is the obvious - spectators go to a track to watch bikes, not to view empty tarmac. Therefore increased running will increase the attraction of non-race days leading - hopefully - to increased ticket sales on those days. Also, increasing running means that there is less likelihood of an event being compromised due to sessions being rained off.

Increased running also increases the prospects of improved tuning: now MotoGP bikes will have four hours practice before qualifying.

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The change to three bikes per row on the grid will have significant safety implications in the Moto2 class which saw a large entry in 2010 and looks like being heavily subscribed in 2011. The increase in the number of rows means better spacing at the first corner where, on some tracks, crashes have been a worrying prospect.

In MotoGP, which is losing teams and where the grid is in danger of looking embarrassingly empty, the increase in the number of rows will give an impression of more bikes than there actually are. Seemingly, the only other way of making the sparse grid look bigger would have been a Le Mans style start (not that they do that in Le Mans any more).

But the grid changes will make it more difficult for the fourth on the grid to make his mark on the first lap: now he will have someone in front of him and he will be further back. As that is replicated down the grid it means that points will be more difficult to gather and now competition to be in the top three will be even more intense during qualifying.