Phoenix 24
Two grids will reshape the rhythm of every race weekend.
Madrid, Spain
MotoGP will introduce a dedicated qualifying session for the Sprint from the 2027 season, creating separate starting grids for Saturday’s short race and Sunday’s Grand Prix. The change forms part of a broader overhaul that will arrive alongside new technical regulations and a redesigned race-weekend structure. The objective is to give both the Sprint and the main race their own competitive identity. For riders and teams, that means qualifying pressure will effectively double.
Friday will now begin with a 45-minute Free Practice 1, followed by a 30-minute Free Practice 2 that will no longer determine progression into another session. The day will conclude with a 15-minute Sprint qualifying session involving the full MotoGP field. That session alone will establish the grid for Saturday’s Sprint. The new format gives Friday a more decisive role while reducing the importance of practice as a gateway to qualifying.
Saturday will open with a 20-minute Free Practice 3 before attention turns to Grand Prix qualifying. All riders will participate in Q1, with the fastest 12 advancing to Q2 to determine the grid for Sunday’s main race. The Sprint will then take place using the positions set during Friday’s separate qualifying session. This creates two distinct competitive sequences inside the same weekend.
Sunday will also change. MotoGP’s traditional warm-up session will disappear, with track time reallocated to a ten-minute pit-lane opening before the Grand Prix for multiple sighting laps. Moto3 and Moto2 races will precede the MotoGP main event as usual. The Sunday grid will come exclusively from Saturday’s Grand Prix qualifying.
The format significantly increases the strategic complexity of a race weekend. A rider could qualify poorly for the Sprint, recover on Saturday morning and still secure a strong Grand Prix grid later that day. Teams will also have less uninterrupted practice time to refine setups before each decisive session. Performance consistency will therefore matter even more.
MotoGP is clearly moving toward a format built around more frequent competitive moments and less passive track time. The series is betting that separate qualifying sessions will increase spectacle, tension and commercial value without compromising sporting quality. Whether riders embrace the added pressure will become one of the central questions of the 2027 season.
More competition means fewer places to hide.