MotoGP Director Ezpeleta on the new 2027 format: “That’s what the teams wanted”

Just before the start of the Indonesian Grand Prix in the holiday paradise of Lombok, the promoter MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group (MSEG) announced some significant changes to the schedule of MotoGP events. The two decisions are as follows: Friday afternoon’s qualifying session is being scrapped. Following a second free practice session, there will be a separate qualifying session for the Sprint on Saturday.

Further sessions are scheduled for Saturday, with the starting grid for the Grand Prix race to be determined anew. These changes apply exclusively to the premier class. Added to this is the controversial scrapping of the warm-up session on Sunday morning. Instead of a short dedicated session, several formation laps will be introduced as standard from 2027.

Backlash from the MotoGP riders

The announcement was the talk of the town at the start of the Indonesian GP. All riders had an opinion, and quite a few voiced unequivocal criticism of the changes to the format. Pecco Bagnaia described the scrapping of the warm-up as a “no-go”. The potentially higher risk of injury due to the ‘tougher’ format also immediately raised concerns amongst a number of riders.

To clarify the situation from MotoGP’s perspective, Carlos Ezepeleta, in his role as sporting director, addressed the media in Mandalika. The man in charge of all operations at the circuit explained how the changes came about: “At the Misano GP, the teams approached us with a request to make adjustments to the schedule.”

Ezpeleta continued: “To put it in context: amongst other things, the manufacturers have been asking for slightly less track time for some time now. At the same time, the aim is to increase the excitement of the sessions for spectators – without increasing the risk to the riders. That was the basis, and the adjustments reflect these requests, which came exclusively from the teams.”

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And: “The fact is, today the teams use 80 per cent of Friday’s timed practice as an additional free practice session, before completing two timed runs in 15 minutes, just as in qualifying. Michelin has also confirmed this to us. So, to make it easier for fans to understand, we’ve separated the two. On top of that, everyone who didn’t make it through to Q2 on Friday gets another chance.”

Riders are not negotiating partners in MotoGP

The downside of the increased excitement is that, instead of just 12 riders as before, all 22 riders must now complete several timed runs on Saturday. More than the fact that there is more action on the track, the riders are clearly bothered by the nature of the communication, as there was no direct dialogue between the riders and the promoters.

Ezpeleta takes a business-like stance on this: “Of course, MotoGP recognises the riders’ needs and supports them in every way – but the riders are not our contractual partners – the teams are.”

Ezpeleta also defended the scrapping of the warm-up session: “Later on, there was also a request to scrap the warm-up session. This was originally intended to identify or resolve any potential issues. However, Michelin also confirmed that, with the current tyres, the conditions on Sunday morning bear no relation to those during the race. That is why it should be possible to complete more laps immediately before the race, and we will make that possible.”

Will the new warm-up format also be applied to the other GP classes? As a reminder, there is currently only a 10-minute warm-up in the premier class. Carlos Ezpeleta was open to the idea: “Why not – if the teams in these classes express a desire for it, we can apply it to Moto2 and Moto3 as well.”