Friday practice sessions face axe
Added on Friday, March 20th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Friday practice sessions face axe
Friday practice sessions will be banned from 2010 as part of MotoGP’s radical cost-cutting plans.
Discussions are due to take place next weekend in Jerez over the latest phase of cost cutting but the Friday practice session is certain be scrapped for the 2010 in an attempt to cut down on team expenditure by reducing track time on race weekends.
The decision will mean that the only Friday track time in 2010 will be the qualifying session for the Assen TT, with the race itself traditionally takes place on Saturday rather than Sunday.
The Friday morning practice has already been banned for 2009, with riders just having one opportunity in the afternoon to get to grips with the track before qualifying.
Other proposed cuts including the banning of spare bikes and a ban on rookie riders being snapped up by factory teams but Friday practices are almost certain to fall under the axe according to Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta.
“We’ll surely cancel Fridays, which will be dedicated to promotional activity,” the Spaniard told Gazzetta dello Sport, adding: “There won’t be spare bikes anymore, and we’ll talk about the possibility of using the same engine for three races.
“The rule whereby rookies can’t join a works team is also likely to be approved.”
But one proposal that is unlikely to be approved is the introduction of a class championship for the non-factory bikes.
“I thought I could help by giving them official recognition,” said Ezpeleta. “For a team like Gresini’s, to be able to say ‘we are privateers world champions’ could have been something important to pitch to sponsors.
“But they told me it would look like a demotion to secondary league, so I accept this criticism. It won’t get done.”
Ezpeleta is confident that the rules changes will help MotoGP stay healthy through the economic downturn.
“We don’t know how long the crisis will last, and 2010 could be even tougher,” he said. “But I have faith in the strength of this sport. I’m almost certain that next year we’ll have 20 riders on the track out of a maximum which I feel should be 22.”
