Too short, too intense, too crazy, too dangerous, too enjoyable, the first Sprint race which has just been held on the Portimão circuit has the immense interest of bringing together all the superlatives, for good and for bad. Judge instead:
- Too intense because in 17 minutes it makes you experience multiple twists and turns, from the fall of tenors like Enea Bastianini to the confirmation of Champions like Francesco Bagnaia, or even the revelation of fighters like Marc Márquez whose incredible tenacity allows him to hang on the podium.
- Too dangerous with the desire to excel of certain protagonists and the thoughtless – even desperate – acts which result from it: Luca Marini or Joan Mir have also paid dearly for it by their elimination, hoping that the collateral damage generated, the image of Bastianini's violent fall, does not compromise the latter's chances in the rest of the championship.
In short, with fighting on all levels, the ingredients were there.
Will the drivers be able to continue in the exercise during the next 20 meetings scheduled on the season calendar? That is the question. Because physically, and although perfectly trained, the energy deployed in qualifying and for the Sprint race is intense, even before the major Sunday event the next day: It is a lot of stress and effort to produce in order to excel.
Beyond the spectacular interest of the exercise, all for the benefit of the show and the promoters, is the game not dangerous?
To see the reactions of certain drivers to the lowering of the flag, this new format has not finished causing debate: Aleix Espargaró – never the last to express his opinions – illustrates with a very explicit gesture the “crazy” side of the race when Francesco Bagnaia finds it very “fun”, while Marc Márquez simply tried to “survive”.
Fabio Quartararo, for his part, does not mince his words: “it’s far too dangerous”!
Finally, Jack Miller, eternally mischievous, had a great time and felt like he was in a contact sport.
What may seem worrying in this “sprint” are the desperate attempts of poorly qualified pilots who will try everything for everything by over-driving with the errors that we have observed. The potential risk of exercise is the damage it can cause physically, with injuries that can be more or less serious.
Will the fight stop for lack of fighters?
Finally, let's not forget that each driver only has 2 motorcycles: It's a lot and a little at the same time, especially when a machine is damaged during qualifying. With only one left for the sprint race, if the rider experiences damage, there are 2 motorcycles to be restored to perfect condition by the mechanics for the flagship event the next day: A “sprint” therefore for the whole teams.
All these beautiful people, in the name of the sacrosanct spectacle, could come out bloodless.
But let's not shy away from our pleasure: what a struggle, what intensity!
Looking forward to the next one… Fingers crossed!
Matthieu BERTRAND
How was the #TissotSprint, @AleixEspargaro? 😅#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/fao7SH9E5w
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) March 25, 2023
