2023-06-29 20:13:16
The bomb was dropped by Carlos Ezpeleta this past Wednesday on Catalunya Radio. Dorna Sport’s Sports Director confirmed the rumors that had already been heard in the paddock since the Dutch Grand Prix, and announced Dorna’s firm intention to help Honda and Yamaha through the championship concession system, without specifying what kind of aid the Japanese will receive to regain the competitiveness lost since the arrival of the pandemic.
That Honda and Yamaha are going through their worst stage in the championship is a fact that is not lost on anyone; its pilots have been missing from the leading group in each race for months, and only some individual performance like that of Alex Rins in Austin have made up the terrible results of two giants come down.
With Suzuki’s scare in mind, Dorna does not want the championship to lose another historic and weight factoryHence, Ezpeleta is preparing a proposal that he will soon send to the rest of the brands to try to reach a consensus and give the Japanese something of an advantage when it comes to preparing their motorcycle for 2024.
At Ducati, for the moment, they claim to have no news of the championship’s gesture on this matter; Paul Ciabattithe sports director of Borgo Panigale, has spoken with GPone.com and has ensured that, for his part, “We have not received any proposal”and not without irony adds that “It seems that they have discussed it with the journalists first, before with the factories” in reference to this interview by Carlos Ezpeleta on Catalunya Radio.
Under the current regulations, neither Honda nor Yamaha could aspire to enjoy concessions in 2024 having reaped podiums this year. For this reason, Dorna wants to introduce changes in the aid system that allow the Japanese to benefit from it, a package of measures that, as Ciabatti recalls, “it must first be discussed by the Grand Prix Commission”, where Dorna, the FIM, IRTA and the MSMA have a vote.
According to Ciabatti, at the last meeting held by the members of the factory association (MSMA) in Assen, “There was no proposal” and insists that “If Dorna decides to update the concession system to help troubled factories, they have to explain how and what impact those changes will have“.
Ducati’s position is clear: “We are willing to evaluate a proposal in a collaborative spirit when there is one, but some points must be considered,” points out his sports boss. “We, like KTM or Aprilia, have come this far by pushing to the limit and respecting the regulations, while the Japanese manufacturers have not been able to keep up.” says Ciabatti, who is confident that the measures proposed by Dorna “no sean to the person” and are available “for all those factories that may find themselves in a similar situation in the future”.
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On paper, Dorna could make changes to the concessions regulations without the approval of MSMA, something that Ciabatti would not approve of: “It is not pretty to make a change without getting the agreement of the majority of factories. We are open to evaluating the proposal, but it must be taken into account that those who have not done their job like the others should not benefit. We want a very detailed and precise proposal, which is fair. Those who have worked well should not be penalized, meritocracy must have a value in MotoGP”they conclude from Ducati.
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