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MotoGP is set to follow the World Superbike Championship with the addition of a sprint race on Saturday, after qualifying.

The move is aimed at providing more on-track action during on Saturday’s, and adding a bit more spectacle to MotoGP’s racing format.

Sprint races have been a success already with the MotoE World Cup, where the electric bikes feature hard bar-to-bar racing in their limited racing distance.

The Saturday sprint race format in WorldSBK has also been a strong move for Dorna in the production series, so it doesn’t come as a surprise to see the powers are be implementing it in MotoGP.

There has been much debate over the past two months over the use of front ride-height devices, hydraulic-mechanical systems which lower the front of a MotoGP bike on corner exit.

Ever since Ducati turned up with the device at the Sepang test, the other motorcycle manufacturers have complained about it as a waste of money, an expensive way of finding small performance gains.

That prompted an internal discussion inside the MSMA, the association of motorcycle manufacturers racing in MotoGP.

On March 5th, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) announced its condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and in that announcement, it suspended the Motorcycle Federation of Russia (MFR) and the Belarusian Federation of Motorcycle Sport (BFMS) from FIM-sanctioned events.

This action also banned Russian and Belarusian from FIM-sanctioned events, and recommended that affiliated members of the FIM and FIM Continental Unions take similar action.

The FIM North America is going to heed that request, which means that Russian and Belarusian riders are banned from events that are operated by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and Canadian Motorcycle Association (CMA).

The FIM has made the decision to condemn publicly the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and as a result of that condemnation, Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials will no longer be able to participate in FIM-sanctioned motorcycle events.

The FIM is also canceling any FIM events, meetings, or races taking place in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, and if applicable, relocating them to another country.

Lastly, the FIM is also recommending that all of its affiliated members and continental unions, like MotoAmerica, take similar measures in barring Russian and Belarusian riders from racing at their events.

MotoGP is to follow in the footsteps of Formula 1 and switch to sustainable fuels.

From 2024, 40% of fuel used in the MotoGP class must be obtained from sustainable sources – either synthetically produced using sustainable energy or from non-food biomass – and from 2027, all fuel used in all three grand prix classes, Moto3, Moto2, and MotoGP, will be of non-fossil origin.

Fabio Quartararo has been hand a three-second penalty after the conclusion of the Catalunya Grand Prix at Barcelona, for riding with his leathers open.

The Frenchman’s leathers came open in the first half of Lap 21, after which he discarded his chest protector, and he went on to finish the remaining laps with the leathers completely open, the wind having forced the zip open completely.