[kropotkin thinks...] - MotoGP Series To Return To Four Sessions At Estoril And Valen

[Ninjette Newsbot]

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Organizing a MotoGP event at a brand new facility has given the series a chance to experiment, and the organizers seized that opportunity with both hands. Dorna and IRTA, in charge of the day-to-day practicalities of running an event, made two changes to the schedule at Aragon, reintroducing four practice sessions and moving the order that the classes were run in. Instead of three 1 hour sessions, Aragon saw the advent of four lots of 45 minute practice sessions, giving the same amount of time on the track, while allowing the teams a little more time to experiment.

The experiment has been an immediate success, and Dorna have just announced that it will continue at Estoril and Valencia, the last two MotoGP events of the season. There will once again be two free practice sessions on Friday, morning and afternoon, as well as a free practice session on Saturday morning, followed by qualifying in the afternoon. The return of FP3 has been universally welcomed by the riders, with the only complaint being that the qualifying is now too short. Valentino Rossi called for qualifying practice to be returned to 1 hour instead of 45 minutes, but the factories remain opposed to any further extension of practice.

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