The unprecedented crisis of Honda and Yamaha has forced the organizers of the MotoGP World Championship to make a move. Having Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo, two of the great references on the grid, fighting not to fall and so far from victory does not leave a discipline that has been seeking to recover its relevance for a long time. The objective is clear: the integrity of the contest must be safeguarded and the balance of forces and competitiveness promoted.
The idea is to do it through the revision of the regulations to grant concessions to the factories that make up the competition, a change that comes with the Japanese colossi light years from their European opponents. “We are working to help not only Honda, but also Yamaha, another Japanese manufacturer, so that they can become competitive again more quickly,” said Carlos Ezpeleta, sports director of Dorna, the Spanish promoter of the championship, in a interview on the show Total Coast of Catalonia Radio. “Dorna’s official position is that the concession system needs to be updated,” he added.
For now there have only been preliminary contacts with all the factories that make up the World Cup, dominated with authority by the Italian Ducati. The Bologna factory is sweeping the manufacturers’ table and has taken 285 points out of a possible 296 (96%) in the eight races held so far. In the classification they are followed by the Austrian KTM and the also Italian Aprilia, while the Japanese brands look at everything from much further away. In this context of European boom, last year Suzuki decided to leave the contest by surprise, a step that is not ruled out at this point in Honda and Yamaha if the downward trend continues.
Concessions have been key in the past in accelerating the progression of factories that set the pace in today’s era of dominance in electronics, aerodynamics and other technological solutions. “Honda and Yamaha have been very considerate of the dealership regulations in the past. That was vital for Ducati to be competitive and also for Suzuki to be so fast, for KTM and Aprilia to enter the World Championship officially and have also been competitive. The other manufacturers will understand it”, pointed out Ezpeleta to justify the promoter’s position. Regulations in hand, however, the aid will not be able to reach the Japanese until 2025. For this reason, Dorna proposes to modify the requirements, although the resolution on this matter will not arrive until after the holidays at the British GP.
The concessions were introduced in 2016 with the intention of allowing worse performing factories more flexibility. Specifically, those who had not achieved a podium throughout the season were entitled to that help the following year. Just this 2023, none had the right to them for the first time since the system’s premiere. Among the advantages currently granted is the availability of more engines per season -nine instead of seven-, the possibility of modifying their performance throughout the year, having twice the number of guest pilots in grand prix -six instead of three- and the possibility of organizing private tests with the official pilots of the brand.
Asked about this issue before the summer break, Alberto Puig, sports director of HRC, was blunt about the reality of the brand. “As a principle, Honda has to be a bike that works better, not wait for help from the championship,” he assessed in Assen. Speaking to ACE, Gigi Dall’Igna, his counterpart at Ducati, advanced the position of the Italians: “The championship should be as balanced as possible and a compromise needs to be found together to see that everyone can fight for the important positions It is appropriate to help the teams in difficulty, but it is right to do it fairly.
The game of chairs begins
Beyond the bailout to the Japanese to avoid another sayonara lethal for the image of the championship, Carlos Ezpeleta confirmed that there are no plans to expand the grid in 2024. In fact, as his father Carmelo Ezpeleta –CEO of Dorna– already advanced in an interview with EL PAIS last year, he recalled that the The ideal number of bikes for the organizer would be 20. If there are no changes, therefore, there will be a maximum of 22 bikes available for the next World Cup. This notably reduces Marc Marquez’s options if he seeks a way out of the titanic at Honda, since there had been speculation about the creation of a private team made to measure as a solution to the entanglement.
On the other hand, KTM has promised Pedro Acosta, future talent and Moto2 title contender, an immediate place in MotoGP, so one of its current riders -Pol Espargaro and Augusto Fernandez in GasGas; Jack Miller and Brad Binder in the official – must leave his post at the end of the year to give up his seat to the 19-year-old from Murcia.
Source: EL PAIS
