For now, it's just a four-rider exhibition, but it speaks to oh so much more integration into the future.
I've been saying it since Formula 1's owners, Liberty Media, announced that it was buying MotoGP: We're due for a double-header event. Kinda like a double-incursion event from Pacific Rim, you know? Finally, we're seeing that come to reality, though in a far less destructive way than a massive robot vs. kaiju fist fight. Hell, it's even less than I would've guessed, but it does speak to what is likely set for the future.
See, instead of adding a race to either series' calendar, or attempting to merge the calendars this year—though given the hostilities in the Middle East and how the war with Iran has caused those races to be canceled, you likely have the ability to fudge the calendars here and there—Formula 1 is set to play host to an exhibition of MotoGP machines during this weekend's Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, at Circuit of the Americas.
So yeah, it's a double-header, but not really a race. More of just a taste of what's likely to come in the very near future, perhaps even next season. At least, that'd be my guess given how quickly the two are merging together.
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The exhibition is set for Saturday and will see four riders—Dani Pedrosa on a KTM, WorldSBK World Champion Nicolo Bulega on a Ducati, Andrea Dovizioso on a Yamaha, and Lorenzo Savadori on an Aprilia—take to COTA's confines and go balls to the wall around the infamously fast circuit. And given that the current generation of bikes are louder than the Formula 1 cars at present, the spectators are in for a treat.
According to MotoGP, the tracktime will occur just before Free Practice 3, which is around 11:30 am local time. So if you're at the track for Formula 1, definitely get to the fences or paddock to see these guys shred the track. I recall being at COTA for MotoGP two years ago, and it was spectacular and loud, so this is a no-miss item for me. MotoGP will also have an activation at the circuit to engage with Formula 1's fanbase, as well as give folks more insight into the future of the two sports collaborating with one another.
Again, this feels like a preview of a full-on double-header event either next year or the following year, with my money on next year. The series also cops to the two needing better collaboration, as while Formula 1 is at COTA, MotoGP is set to race in Australia on the same weekend. So having the two at the same time needs to get worked out still.
"The United States Grand Prix is a truly unique and special event on the F1 calendar, attracting an incredible crowd and providing a great opportunity to give fans a taste of what makes MotoGP so exciting," said Pedrosa, adding, "The speed, the sound and the performance of these bikes is something you have to experience in person, and I'm looking forward to sharing that with everyone in Austin."
But as a fan of both, I can't wait to see the two work together and have back-to-back races at places like COTA, somewhere that's so special to me personally. I don't, however, want to think of the ticket prices...