THIS JUST IN FROM THE POLITBURO! HOW THE GRAND PRIX OF QATAR WILL BE RUN

On Jan 25, 2013

If you loved the sound of an angry pack of 450s roaring off the line, you will get half your wish in Qatar.

This just in from from the “Permanent Bureau of the Motocross Grand Prix,” but we think they meant the “Politburo.” We find it hard to believe that they have something called the “Permanent Bureau of Motocross.” And we find it hard to believe that the Fly-away GP system has been changed again. Do these guys ever think things out before they fire off press releases? On November 24, 2012, the “MXGP Commission” (which must have been the precursor to the Politburo) announced a different format.

But, the Grand Prix of Qatar, an international hotbed of motocross activity, is still a couple months away. Perhaps a new commission, called the “Youthstream Democratic People’s Front” can be formed to change the system one more time. Here is how the Qatar round of the 2013 FIM World Motocross Championships will be run (as of today).

The Permanent Bureau of Motocross is made up of Giuseppe Luongo (left) and Vito Ippolito (right). There are no other people on the bureau

THE FIRST MOTO MINUS THE 109 PERCENTERS

The 250 class will race one 35-minute plus two lap motos, followed by the 450 class in their 35-minute plus two lap race. Youthstream will accept up to 40 riders for each first moto (although to keep slow local riders out of the field, nobody can be placed into their first moto unless their qualifying time is within 108 percent of the average time of the top ten riders in timed qualifying).

The first moto of the 250 class and the 450 class will pay points to the top 20 riders (and how they finish in moto one determines how they choose their spots on the grid for the Super Final 250/450 combined moto). The top 18 from moto one in the both the 250 and 450 classes will advance directly to the Super Final moto, while a combined Last Chance race will advance the top two 250 riders and the top two 450 riders (even if they aren’t in front of any other riders?they will be selected if they are in the top two of their respective class). Which means that if the LCQ’s 450 class riders go one through ten in the Last Chance, only two of the first ten will advance to the Super Final and the first two 250 riders, even if they are 11th and 12th, will also advance.

After the Qatar round (for Thailand, Mexico and Brazil), the top 10 in points will always be seeded into the Super Final?even they crash out of the first moto. So, after the top 10 riders in points, it is only the 8 best finishing riders in each first moto who advance, unless a top ten rider is missing with an injury, in which case they will take the top 9 in points and 9 riders from the first moto.

THE 40-MAN DUAL-CLASS, DOUBLE DOWN COMBINATION CLASS

With 18 250 riders and 18 450 riders advancing directly from the first motos and 4 riders advancing from the last chance, the 40-man field will proceed to the one-moto Super-Final.

According to the press release, all 20 of the 250 riders get first pick at the gate followed by the 20 450 riders. This can’t be right, as the 450 riders would blast out of the gate from the far outside and then swerve across in front of the slower 250 bikes (leading to massive pile-ups in the first turn). Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the first 250 rider from moto one pick first and the first 450 rider from moto one pick second, then the second 250 rider from moto one pick third, followed by the second-place 450 rider and so on.

The 250 and 450 riders will race against each other in the Super Final, but they will be scored separately. And maximum points will be awarded by the order in which a rider finishes in his class?not in the overall results of the race.

Although points are being paid in both races, it is assumed that the respective winners of the Super Final will be considered the winner of the GP (since has been designed for TV), but we are positive that teams, manufacturers and the press will combine the results from the first moto and the Super Final moto to determine the overall results for each class in the GP.