December is traditionally the right month to draw up the balance sheet of the year gone by, and that is exactly what Carlos Ezpeleta, MotoGP's sporting director, did in an interview with our AS colleagues.
With about one month to go before the end of the 2024 season, the Spaniard reflected on what we have seen this year, the major changes implemented by MotoGP in recent years and those that will affect it in the near future.
Among the most recent innovations is the introduction of Sprint races in the championship format, which proved decisive this year in awarding the title to Jorge Martin.
"We are very pleased with the change in the format. The change in attendance and spectatorship on Saturday is real and we are very happy with it. I think teams and riders have also been able to handle it better this year because of the experience in 2023.
We have not seen so many incidents in the Saturday races," Ezpeleta commented," More than this season, I think from now on the Sprint will always be decisive. It is an intrinsic part, just like the rankings used to decide the World Championship. It is like the result with VAR, or the result without VAR, which there is in soccer.
The result is what remains at the end and there is no reason to doubt it. Having said that, we are very happy.
The broadcasters are happy, the fans are happy. And part of what the Saturday sprint race has to be worth to us is the ability to attract a different audience, to show MotoGP content on other platforms that maybe are not pay-per-view as some markets are doing, to remind them that there is a race the next day.
We think that was a very positive change. In the MotoGP survey we did two years ago, one of the things that came out was the desire for sharing. That's why we want to welcome more people into our community."
Despite the fact that the title fight was decided only at the last race, there was a significant difference in the audience between the 2015 season finale, in which Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were fighting for the title, and this year's.
"I haven't seen the numbers. What I do know is that it was the highest season since 2015, including 2016, where there were many more races in FTA than now. Also, 2016 was the season just after the famous incident. Comparing eras is like comparing riders.
Let's say it makes little sense. But what we see in recent years is a very important increase in audiences in key countries. As a result of the new format, but also thanks to the work we are doing," explained the Spaniard, who is convinced that it is not the riders that determine the fortunes of MotoGP:
"For us, MotoGP is the most exciting sport in the world, we have the best riders on the fastest bikes in the world, on the best circuits on the planet, and all of this together brings an emotion to the track that probably no other sport has, as we have seen this year.
I don't think MotoGP is its riders. But I do know that for MotoGP, the most important part of the sport is our heroes, the ones who always take center stage for us."
Sprint or no Sprint, what has emerged from this season is that it has been Ducati that has been on a winning streak, triumphing in every Grand Prix except Austin, won by Aprilia with Maverick Vinales.
A scenario that, according to Carlos, is unlikely to happen again between now and the introduction of the new MotoGP regulations in 2027.
"When someone talks about Ducati and domination, they need to understand how the paddock really works. This year Ducati won all but one race. I think Honda also won all but one race in 2003, or in I don't know which year.
The shocking thing is to see brands that have always been at the top so far behind.... In that situation, as a World Championship, not only as Dorna, but at the level of all parties involved,we realized that the concession system was not in step with the reality of the current championship.
That's why we wanted to correct it, which we did," he explained, "Next year there will no longer be eight Ducatis in the lead because there will no longer be eight Ducatis and there have also been a lot of rider moves. So there will no longer be dominance and a high percentage of podiums for Ducati riders.
I don't think it will happen again, although the free market system has made it possible. We, of course, did not force any team in the past to switch to Ducati: at the price the bike was and the performance it had, the teams chose it. There was that preference, but I don't think it will happen again.
Right now we have 11 teams in MotoGP and all of them are very valuable. If there are new manufacturers who want to come in, they can, and in fact there is already a possibility that they will come."
Speaking of expansion, the process started by MotoGP will intensify with the arrival of Liberty Media, looking mainly at the U.S. market. But this does not necessarily mean that there will be more races on American soil in the future.
"We as MotoGP have a strong legacy in the United States. Even with Jorge Martin's championship, I think there are still more American champions in the premier class than Spanish champions," Ezpeleta noted.
"If we look at the growth that Formula 1 has had in the United States, of course it is important to achieve that expansion, but it is very difficult to replicate. All sports try to grow in that market for clear economic reasons, but few have succeeded.
There is always talk of more races in the United States, but it is important for us to build a real fan base and grow it. Also, with the maximum number of races we have in 22, holding one race means having to eliminate another, and we want our races to be as successful as possible at the fan level, so it's a balance we have to strike to see if it pays off.
We have a sport that is very appealing to American fans because it is short, it is easy to understand, and it is not predictable. All of these are values that we also have with Sprint racing, and we believe we have a lot of possibilities and great potential for growth in the United States."
