RINS WELCOMES MOTOGP’S 2027 FORMAT—BUT WISHES IT HAD COME SOONER

Alex Rins is pleased MotoGP will drop its Sunday warm-up session in 2027, but the outgoing Yamaha rider has one complaint: the change arrives just as he is leaving the championship.

MotoGP announced the revised weekend schedule ahead of the Indonesian Grand Prix. Friday will feature two practice sessions totalling 75 minutes, followed by a 15-minute qualifying session in groups to set the sprint grid. Saturday qualifying will then determine the Sunday race grid: all riders start in Q1, with the fastest 12 progressing to Q2. The 10-minute Sunday warm-up will be removed.

Rins welcomed the plan, though he joked that its timing was frustrating. He said he had been arguing against warm-ups since joining the world championship in 2012, recalling that he was already telling his team the following year that the session was “for nothing”. As he moved through Moto2, Moto3 and MotoGP, he felt the schedule became increasingly demanding.

“I was close one time, I remember, to not doing the warm-up because it’s useless,” Rins said. “You just put your body under more stress for 10, 20 minutes for nothing.” His verdict on the reform was positive, but he could not resist adding: “When I leave, they change it!”

Rins said the new structure looked reasonable and noted its resemblance to Formula 1’s qualifying format. He suggested MotoGP could eventually add a third qualifying segment, saying: “Let’s see if in a few years they have Q3. For me, it’s not bad.”

He also pointed out that the total time riders spend on track would be unchanged or reduced. The bigger adjustment, he said, will be learning how to approach a race weekend under a different timetable. Rins highlighted the prospect of less track activity before the main event: “The race is normally at 2 pm; there is no action on track until 2pm.”

His measured response contrasts with the stronger criticism of the format reported from Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta. Rins acknowledged that major changes can bring both benefits and drawbacks, but said the revised schedule looked acceptable. For a rider who has long questioned the value of warm-up, the reform is welcome—if belated.