MotoGP won't grow unless we change it, so new format is a good thing and will put riders under more pressure - Neil Hodgson column
By Neil Hodgson
Published 08/10/2026 at 13:35 GMT+1
TNT Sports pundit Neil Hodgson explains why he welcomes the new MotoGP rule changes for 2027, which will see a change to qualifying and Practice sessions and which is intended to make more sessions feel competitive.
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I think the MotoGP rule changes are a step in the right direction. It's going to give us shorter, snappier sessions and more pressure on the riders, which is far from a bad thing.
Obviously, the riders won’t all really want that, but we're trying to grow the sport and make it more appealing.
Why would people want to tune into practice sessions from years ago, which mean nothing, that are just boring, 40-minute sessions of riders riding around working on their race setup?
It's not really appealing to a casual viewer. Your hardcore fans are always going to watch, but if there are shorter sessions that actually mean something, you have a better chance of hooking people because it's a crucial session.
It definitely makes it harder because you have to push yourself. Whenever you do a qualifying lap, you push yourself into an uncomfortable zone of being right on the edge because it's so important.
So that definitely makes it a little bit harder for the riders. But it also definitely makes it more entertaining.
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Everyone's going wild about safety, saying it's the worst thing that could ever happen and that it's so dangerous.
Motorcycle racing is dangerous - it always has been. Just because the riders might have to push to the limit for one extra session is not going to make a meaningful difference to safety.
People don't really like change, and certain journalists that follow our sport just love an old pile-on - they love some negativity.
Before we had the format we've got now, a MotoGP rider would have pretty much four hours of free practice riding around the track back in the '90s.
It was so boring! You look back at that and laugh now, thinking, "God, you would never want to televise that! Nobody would want to watch it."
So they've made it much shorter and snappier.
It's the same for everybody. Everybody's got a lot to learn with different motorcycles and different tyres.
You've got a shorter time to get your package sorted out, so there's just no time for messing around. It puts a bit more pressure on the riders and the teams, but my heart bleeds for them when the lowest-paid riders are on more than a £1 million basic salary, and I think all of them want to compete, above all else.
It might be harder, but it offers a sterner test. If you want to be the best rider, you’ll relish that.
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If we don't change anything, let's just keep it as it is, and nothing will change - and you've not really got any chance of growing the sport. So you've got to try to change.
I don't want to watch riders just riding around working on setups: 'Oh yeah, he's on lap 18 on a race tyre, just making sure what that feels like once he gets to the point where he's lost a bit of grip.'
That's what the changes will fix. This has been a fantastic season so far, but the rule changes next year could make something even better.
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