During the Dutch GP at TT Circuit Assen, Dorna, FIM and IRTA jointly announced a set of measures that they hope will reduce costs and ensure the stability of the MotoGP World Championship through the 2021 season.
The announcements were made in a press conference led by Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports; Vito Ippolito, President of Federation Internationale de Motorcyclisme (FIM); and Hervé Poncharal, the President of International Road-Racing Teams Association (IRTA) and the owner of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 MotoGP team.
After thanking all parties involved, especially Honda and Yamaha for agreeing to recent technical rule concessions to help some teams “catch up,” Ezpeleta said, “All the technical rules will stay the same until 2021 unless everybody agrees to change something or it is for safety.
“Starting from 2017 we will have six manufacturers participating in MotoGP: Aprilia, Ducati, Honda, KTM, Suzuki and Yamaha. All of these six will have the right to participate in the championship with two official riders. They also have the obligation to put a minimum of two bikes in the market for leasing, with a maximum of four, for the existing teams in the championship. These bikes will have a max price of 2.2 million Euros ($2.45 million USD) per annum including everything except crash costs.
“This is only for existing teams. We now have 25 riders participating and for the period of 2017 to 2021 the minimum will be 22 riders on the grid and the maximum 24. We will not admit any other teams or manufacturers if we’re over 22 riders; this is to support the teams that have been participating in MotoGP.
“The contribution [subsidies paid] from Dorna to the manufacturers, and especially the private teams, will see more than a 30% increase between 2016 to 2017. With this contribution, especially to the private teams, the teams will have enough resources to pay the leasing from the manufacturers at the previously mentioned price.”
Ippolito added that the FIM MotoGP World Championship may increase to 20 rounds but would have no more than 20 rounds in any one season through 2021.
“As IRTA President but also as a team owner, we are pleased with the new agreement we reached for 2017-2021,” said Poncharal. “First it gives us stability. It’s easier for a company, for an entrepreneur to invest on the long term in such conditions. It also ensures stability of cost as the technology will be frozen for five years.”
Dorna then issued key comments from prominent figures in the MotoGP paddock, including:
Romano Albesiano, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Manager: “The stability of the Championship is the main priority for Dorna. On the technical side there will be stability of the regulations, which is positive for all the manufacturers. It’s also important for the Championship to invest money in something that will last for a long time and something that is stable.”
Michael Bartholemy, Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Racing Team Manager: “This is fantastic news! For a team like us, in our first year of MotoGP™, this is a big chance, I’m really proud to have made it here, for sure these are difficult times for everybody and without the support of Dorna it would be difficult to go through the season. It’s a big step for everybody, for the Championship. The technical changes will only make things closer in the future; it will be a nice Championship!”
Davide Brivio, Team Suzuki ECSTAR Manager: “Ensuring the stability of the sport is always very important – when you work for a big corporation like Suzuki, being able to work for a few years with the same conditions, the same regulations makes your job easier. It’s also great for the Championship: financially, the five official teams can manage themselves, but we can’t have a Championship with five teams, so making sure to support the independent teams and ensure a field of 24 riders is very important.”
Lucio Cecchinello, CWM-LCR Honda MotoGP Team Manager: “This is some very important news for us as an independent team, we know very well it’s always getting tougher and tougher to get support from the sponsors, so this way of making the sport sustainable is very good news for us.”
Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati Corse Sporting Director & MotoGP Project Director at Ducati Motor Holding: “The stability of the technical rules will help a lot the manufacturers and also the support that Dorna will be providing to the satellites is beneficial. All in all, it’s a good package to ensure the viability and stability of the Championship.”
Lin Jarvis, Yamaha Factory Racing Managing Director: “It’s great to have many manufacturers participating, five at the moment and six when KTM joins in the future – it’s a good basis for the sport. Dorna are able to increase their support to the independent teams in particular and that’s a very positive thing, as it will allow ensuring stability for those teams, to be able to be able to put together a quality package and be able to engage with manufacturers in the mid-term and long-term.”
Livio Suppo, Repsol Honda Team principal: “It’s a very good move from the FIM and Dorna. We’re pleased to hear the rules will remain constant for a long time as it will reduce the costs and also there will be more competition between everybody. The new system to support the satellite teams is a good idea, nowadays all sports need bigger support from the organizer and I think Dorna is working in the right direction.”