The motorcycle world championship is in full expansion through new and emerging markets far from the European continent and Spain will fall off the calendar
During the weekend of the Thai Grand Prix, the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) released the preliminary calendar for the 2023 MotoGP World Championship. It will be the longest season in history, with 21 races between March and November, one more than this year. Two previously unexplored areas will be added to the championship. On the one hand, Kazakhstan, which in recent years, under the supervision of the championship promoter, Dorna, has built an entire motorcycle complex on the outskirts of Almaty, the largest city in the country. And on the other hand, India, which will refurbish the international circuit of Buddh, along with New Delhi, which has already hosted Formula 1 races in the past, will be held on Spanish soil, the Aragon GP.
It’s no surprise. Over the past ten years, Spain has won major awards in Jerez, Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia. The golden years of national motorcycling and the support of the institutions made possible this blessed anomaly, which, however, was not well seen beyond our borders. And even more so now when countries are lining up to enter the calendar. Dorna’s maximum president, Carmelo Ezpeleta, warned years ago that the Spanish and Portimao circuits in Portugal would rotate and that no more than three main prizes a year would be held in the Iberian Peninsula. The pandemic has delayed this plan that will come onto the scene from next year, in a championship that aims to be more global.
The heart of the motorcycle world championship is always on European soil. But while Formula 1 has had a strong British accent, MotoGP has traditionally been more rooted in Mediterranean countries, particularly Spain and Italy. The quarries export not only the most drivers in the championship, but also the teams and a large part of the sponsors. For many years, in a calendar of 18 Grands Prix, a third was held between these two countries and the vast majority was distributed on European soil. In 2023 there will be even more events in Europe (eleven) than in the rest of the world (ten), but the core of motorcycling is slowly shifting to other continents.
Currently, Southeast Asia is by far the most important market in the two-wheeler sector. Brands sell millions of motorcycles in this region as it is the preferred mode of transport for the population and MotoGP is a mass sport where riders are treated like rock stars. Next year, four Grand Prixs will be held in this area (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India), with their grandstands filled to the brim. A very different scenario from what is currently seen in the traditional markets, where the flow to the tracks is declining and fewer tickets have been sold than ever. The paradigm shift from open television to pay-per-view has caused audiences to dwindle to a bare minimum. And we must not forget that in recent years the championship has lost its great references, Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo or Dani Pedrosa, and the long absence of Marc Márquez due to injury has not helped. The perfect storm.
The new MotoGP calendar has been met with mixed reviews. The gradual increase in the number of races and the increasingly farther and more frequent rides make the well-worn family reconciliation within the paddock very difficult. This is how a heavyweight of the current championship like Aleix Espargaró expressed himself: «I am very fortunate to be a MotoGP rider and to be in a team like Aprilia, which allows me to accompany the family. It is more difficult for the mechanics and other team members who are away from home for many days. At the other extreme was Marc Márquez, who was motivated by the idea of more races and more circuits: “I’m in favor of going to different countries, getting to know other cultures and bringing MotoGP to more fans, because it’s important is for the brands and for the championship, but never more than 22 races».
That is the ceiling that MotoGP has set for itself in the future, 22 races. It would still be two less than Formula 1 will have in 2023, in which only nine appointments are held on European soil. The World Motorcycling Championship is heading towards that scenario in the future. It has already signed a memorandum with Saudi Arabia to be part of the championship in the coming years. And on the horizon there is an expansion planned for Latin America (with Mexico and Brazil in the spotlight), more races in the United States and a return to the African continent, with the return of the South African GP. Against this background, Aleix Espargaró predicted a dark future for the championship: “This is just the beginning of the apocalypse.”
Source: La Verdad
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