(Motorsport-Total.com) – MotoGP is facing the longest season in history. A total of 21 Grands Prix are planned for 2023 – more than ever before. There are also new sprints over half the distance on Saturday. So there are a total of 42 individual races.
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Luca Marini worries about the economic side for the teams
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Promoter Dorna wants to ensure more action with the sprints. There was some discussion behind the scenes over the winter as the question arose as to whether the drivers would receive bonus payments for the sprints.
Dorna’s grants to the teams remain basically the same. “It’s a big problem because I don’t think we’re making enough money,” says Luca Marini clearly. “Every year it gets worse.”
“It’s a big problem for all teams. It’s the same for teams in Moto2 and Moto3. I think we need a little more air. Any team can finish a season, but we need a little more leeway to do the season well to be able to finish.”
“It shouldn’t be that you have to ride the last races with damage to the bike. That doesn’t apply to MotoGP, but it applies to Moto2 and Moto3. That’s the case with many teams and it’s not right. It’s a safety issue. “
Compared to Formula 1, there is significantly less money involved in MotoGP. But Liberty Media managed to better market Formula 1 as a product. The introduced cost cap also ensures that teams can now earn real money.
In Formula 1, money is no longer just “burned” as it was in the past, but earned. The viewer boom is also a clear sign that Liberty Media did a lot right with the promotion.
The effort for the teams and drivers is constantly increasing
MotoGP saw a slight drop in attendance in 2022 compared to 2019. Promoter Dorna wants to counteract this with the additional action of the sprints on Saturday. But Marini isn’t sure if that’s the right path.
“We drive more races, but the money stays the same,” says the Italian. “They say that more racing means more fun for us. Of course I agree with that because we want to race. It’s also our job and our life.”
Added to this is the fact that the salary level in the entire MotoGP field has fallen over the past few years. But now there are more and more races. And in autumn, with seven overseas races, there will be significantly more than before.
“You have to make a lot of sacrifices. Today you’re a MotoGP rider for 365 days,” says Marini. “You don’t have a lot of free time. There’s a lot of stress. The effort for the additional sprint race will be unbelievable.”
“We could think about reducing the number of laps a bit. I can imagine that it will be a problem for some riders. Yes, in the Superbike World Championship they do three races. But their longest race is, for example, 20 laps long while we drive 27.”
“These last seven laps are very long, so we could ask if the laps could be reduced a bit.” The impact of the sprints will certainly be the subject of much discussion after the first few weekends.
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Aerodynamics and ride height systems make overtaking increasingly difficult Zoom
For Marini it is clear that the promotion of MotoGP has to be better overall. And there can be several adjustment screws: “We also have to talk about the technical side, because overtaking maneuvers are not that easy.”
“Maybe we have 15 riders in a row in the sprint who try something but don’t get it. And that’s not a good show. It’s about putting on a better show for the fans to generate more money for the people in the paddock.”
“We need to understand how to make this site better. You need to promote the show better for TV and for the fans. We need their support because it’s the only way to make more money. It’s not just about the drivers, but about the teams. We need more support from Dorna and our partners.”
