MotoGP: 2023 race weekend time schedule confirmed

MotoGP has confirmed its new race weekend time schedule for the 2023 season following the introduction of sprint races on Saturdays.

Known as the MotoGP Sprint, these half-race distance outings will take place at 15:00 local time after a 15-minute grid procedure.

The podium for these shorter races will take place in a different location to that of the main Grand Prix in order to “bring celebrations closer to the fans.” It remains to be seen if this will be a similar setting to that seen within the World Superbike Championship paddock.

A press conference for the MotoGP Sprint will take place at 16:15 local time, and will involve the top three finishers, the polesitter and championship leader.

The introduction of the MotoGP Sprint has led to changes across the race weekend, which can be found below.

FRIDAY

The opening day of the race weekend will still include two MotoGP practice sessions. The first session starts at 10:45 and lasts 45 minutes, whilst the second session (15:00) has been extended to 60 minutes.

The combined lap-times from Practice One and Practice Two will now determine the direct entrants into Q1 and Q2, rather than the previous third practice session on a Saturday morning doing so.

Moto2 has two 40-minute practice sessions on Friday, whilst Moto3 has two 35-minute sessions. Both count towards the combined timings, however Saturday morning’s practice session is still taken into account for qualifying.

Saturday

The MotoGP class has a 30-minute free practice session at 10:10, but there will no longer be a fourth session prior to qualifying.

Instead, Q1 will begin at 10:50 before Q2 gets underway at 11:15. A new post-qualifying show will see riders head to a new stage for live interviews in front of fans.  The MotoGP Sprint will then begin at 15:00.

Moto3 and Moto2 riders will have their third practice sessions on Saturday morning at 08:40 and 09:25 respectively. The combined times from the three sessions will determine who goes into Q1 and who goes directly into Q2.

The Moto3 Q1 session begins at 12:50, followed by Q2 at 13:15. Moto2 Q1 and Q2 sessions take place at 13:45 and 14:10.

Sunday

MotoGP riders have a 10-minute warm up session at 9:45, however Moto3 and Moto2 classes no longer have warm ups.

A MotoGP rider fan parade at 10:00 gives the crowd a chance to see the riders before the race, before they make a couple of pitstops and head towards the ‘Hero Walk’ for more face-to-face fan interaction.

Racing begins at 11:00 for Moto3 before the Moto2 race at the slightly earlier time of 12:15.  

The MotoGP Grand Prix race begins at 14:00, with the traditional Grand Prix podium set for 15:00. The structure of Moto3 – Moto2 – MotoGP is to be maintained throughout the season, and the MotoGP Grand Prix race will always be the final track action on Sunday.

At many events the fans will be given the chance to flood to the podium and become part of the celebrations.