THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN

It was April, when Carmelo Ezpeleta during the GP Americas in Austin. celebrated GP number 500-thus Dorna’s 30 years in the World Championship and 20 years since the birth of MotoGP-assuring that things have never been better. He said the number of promoters applying for a Grand Prix is higher than ever, the TV rights business is thriving, the show is compelling.

It was mid-August when, in Austria, Ezpeleta, with the FIM president at his side, announced that we need to shake up MotoGP, to make the “show” more exciting and palatable for PayTV and circuits, as well as for fans (there is a decline in MotoGP ratings).

But wasn’t everything so florid! No, in fact Ezpeleta called a tense press conference, where he appeared nervous and hasty, to announce an upheaval: the arrival in 2023 of a race also on Saturdays, called the Sprint Race. And that’s where the MotoGP boss made it clear that things are not going well, and that there are problems that need to be urgently addressed: revenues are dropping along with approval ratings, in the face of an organization that is raising costs (we also covered this on Volume#16).

So to reenergize the business we need to offer the audience, thinking of the younger audience because it represents the future, a show with more adrenaline condensed into less time. The format reflects modern times: we need to do more with more speed, even in watching a show (on TV as well as on the circuit). Because you get bored quickly today.

Even in MotoGP we are coming to terms with the pandemic, which has changed things. For example, let’s look at what happened from April to August 2022 to the compartment that would be the foundation of Motorsport: the Industry.

A couple of weeks after the big party in Texas came the shock news of Suzuki’s withdrawal, and after about a month Yamaha lost its satellite team immediately giving the idea that it did not want to replace it. So in four weeks, the Japanese industry has halved its presence in GPs, with a view to 2023. There is a fear that this is a surrender of the Japanese Army.

Suzuki’s farewell this time is indefinite; BMW immediately snubbed yet another approach by Dorna (in this case, to replace Suzuki) confirming that Grand Prix is not really of interest to it; Kawasaki does not even want to hear about a comeback; Yamaha renounces the satellite team while its lead rider (Fabio Quartararo) talks about “mentality that needs to change”; Honda shows an unusual apathy toward problems, namely Marquez’s troubles and those at the organizational and mentality level.

THE INVASION IS EUROPEAN

The picture is clear: Today, the Italian and Austrian factories together fill a third of the MotoGP grid. KTM, then, holds up Moto3 almost single-handedly, with its three brands (i.e., also GasGas and Husqvarna).
What about Moto2? Kalex (German) or SpeedUp (Italian) chassis, Triumph (English) engine. Always Europe!
As for MotoE, Ducati takes over the role of supplier from Energica. So Italy.
In essence, Europe holds up the Grand Prix world much more than does the Rising Sun, which has historically supported this industry for at least 50 years.
The astonishment increases when one considers that KTM-which is making a tremendous effort in Speed-only boasts brands that have a culture derived from Off-Road (KTM, HSQ, GasGas).
Yes, the world (of Speed) seems turned upside down. But let us remember that MotoGP without the Japanese Industry would not be the same. Especially for the business aims of Dorna, which has been looking toward Asia for years.

At Dorna’s debut in 1992, Ezpeleta had the problem of curbing the aggressiveness of the Japanese, encouraging the Europeans not to give up: now he has to restore morale to the Japanese.
In Japan, overwhelmed by Covid, they reacted differently than the Europeans. Dorna did not stop MotoGP and Superbike, while in Japan they suspended the Suzuka 8 Hours and the Japanese GP in Motegi. And the country has closed itself within its borders.
It was in that isolation, which began in 2020, that they began to think about the market and the industry. And the new generation of managers have asked themselves whether it is still worth thinking about Grand Prix as a world war, something to do with honor. As their predecessors did. And as the Italians do now.

In August, Marc Marquez decided to talk about certain things publicly as well, and said that “we need to start looking at the European way of working. You have to keep people motivated, with a competitive spirit and a desire to return to the top.” And as soon as Fabio Quartararo heard that, he took courage and said that “In Yamaha I see parallels with Honda.”
It is surprising that the leaders of the racing departments of the Rising Sun lack the determination and openness of the generations that preceded them. It’s really about the way racing is done. That is, Grand Prix racing. And in this art they have become overwhelmed by their Italian colleagues. He meant this, Marquez, with, “In HRC the problem is not in the bike but in the design, in the concept.”

Today the Italians are more imaginative and aggressive, they are better organized, and because of this they are quicker in inventing strategies and producing new pieces in the process. The Japanese are left as bewildered. It is no longer enough to design a motorcycle: you have to creae two structures (in the company and on the track) that work daily, coordinating. Just as Marc said, “Work in the factory has to be better organized, we have to rebuild the team concept. European teams work differently, and I am referring to the way they conceive and develop the project. And factory work is becoming more and more important.” Then he added, “I don’t claim to make the decisions, but I want to be involved.”
This sentence makes many things clear. Marc in mid-August met with HRC Team Manager Tetsuhiro Kuwata and President (of HRC) Shinya Wakabayashi: who discussed with Ezpeleta the Sprint Race 2023 project, but the confrontation at the highest level with Marc Marquez Is an important event.
“We need a 365-day-a-year connection: ideas from Japan need to be processed in Europe, and vice versa,” Marc said. Who did not dare to talk about “Europeanization,” but made it clear: “I don’t want to say that Honda has to work like the Europeans, only that the world and this championship are changing. In MotoGP a tenth of a second changes everything. The engineering department is becoming more important, aerodynamics has arrived, different concepts that 5-6 years ago did not exist. You have to coordinate everything very well.”

Then there is the question of interpretation of the Regulations, the engagement in the famous gray area that often makes a difference. Because of a very restrictive regulation regarding the engine, in order to make a difference one must also accept to develop technology that is not necessarily needed for production: but this is contrary to Japanese logic. Aerodynamics and auxiliary systems (such as lowerers) do not seem related to production products, in fact this is where they have given way to Ducati and Aprilia in recent years.

At the Suzuka 8 Hours, Honda showed a great reaction-perhaps they are coming around in Tokyo.
One has to figure out at this point what they will do in Iwata (the absence of the factory team at the Suzuka 8 Hours and the decision not to field the satellite team in MotoGP in 2022 suggest that a major reorganization is underway), after they have already thrown in the towel in Hamamatsu instead.

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