MotoGP Racing Toward a Bright Future?

MotoGP commercial rights-holder Dorna hosted an end-of-season press conference at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain. In attendance were representatives from each of the three factories currently participating in the premier class: Ducati MotoGP Project Director Paolo Ciabatti, Repsol Honda Team Principal Livio Suppo, and Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis. Comments made by the panel during the 45-minute discussion with the media covered a variety of subjects. Here are some of the highlights:

Paolo Ciabatti: We are pleased with this season. We have been allowed to keep developing our bike with some concessions. This is what we needed because we closed 2013 with a very embarrassing gap from the top. The target was to finish within 10 seconds of the winner, and we achieved that. We have proven that we can be very fast in qualifying, and we achieved three podiums—two with Andrea Dovizioso and one with Cal Crutchlow.

After 24 liters, the most important allowance was the freedom to keep developing the engine. Not only for engine performance but also for the chassis. If you need to change the mounting points of the engine, with a “frozen” engine, you can’t do it. We had the freedom to change something and bring the GP14.2, which is an evolution of the GP14. The tires give some advantage in qualifying, but so far in the races, we have only used our softer option twice.

We will have a brand-new bike next season. The GP15 will be a little bit late; we will see it at the Sepang test. But as Gigi Dall’Igna said, it’s better to start a little late when it’s right instead of rushing the debut and having to fix several things. We are confident that we will challenge for race wins next year.

After Valentino Rossi left, we had a difficult season. Now that Ducati is competitive again, we have an easier job convincing new sponsors to jump on board.

Next season, there will be two new members of the MSMA—Aprilia and Suzuki—and they will have a say for what is best for the future. But I think we all agree that there should be only one class from 2016 onward.

Livio Suppo: Even if this season looked easy for Marc Marquez, we know the level of competition is very high. You can see the remarkable season of Jorge Lorenzo. Also, Rossi has done something really unbelievable.

Jack Miller will test this season’s production racer. We only have one machine with pneumatic valves—the RC213V-RS that Hiroshi Aoyama is racing this weekend. Nicky Hayden and Karel Abraham will share that bike next week. I think the production bike will be a big step from Moto3 for Jack, so he will ride that bike for the first three races.

Ducati is a strong brand, and I think it has big value for this championship. So I think it was correct to give some advantage. The level of performance is getting closer. If they win 10 races in a row then we need to think about it.

Michelin has long experience in MotoGP, so I don’t think there will be any big surprises. The Bridgestone front tire has been always very good. I think the question will be if any riders struggle to find feeling in the front.

We will continue next year with Moto3. The best machine is now a Honda. This is an incredible result in such a short time.

Before we went to Malaysia, we took both riders to Indonesia. It’s a pity we don’t race there. They treat riders like rock stars. In the future, we need to have less presence in Spain and Italy and more presence in South America and Indonesia or Thailand.

Dorna is doing a good job. Dorna and MSMA are trying to reduce costs, but it is not easy. Moto3 is a good example. I think Moto3 is now more expensive than Moto2.

Lin Jarvis: The beginning of the year was difficult for various reasons, but it's better to finish strong than to start strong and finish weak. Valentino was strong from the beginning of the season. Jorge was not as strong as he could have been, and, of course, he made two errors in the first races, which put him on the back foot. To be second and third isn't ideal, but it's not bad.

From the first tests, we found that the new tire construction was not ideal for our riders. The Honda was at a better level than the Yamaha, so our engineers did a lot of work to improve the bike. Now we are virtually on the same level as the Honda. We need to maintain that momentum into next season. You can’t afford to let up, especially when you are racing someone as strong as Marc.

Ducati’s advantage has not affected the championship. I think it has made it difficult for satellite teams to maintain motivation. There are circumstances where their riders are performing exceptionally well and they may be beaten for pole position or in the race.

The key is one set of rules. At the moment, we have three classifications, and I don’t think that’s good for participants or spectators.

The software-development freeze begins at the end of June. The important point is a performance level that is common among all the participants, but it also needs to be easy to operate. We could give our software to many teams, but the people in those teams would be totally lost. It’s better to have software with a little less performance that is safe and easy to operate.

Marc dominated the first half of the season, but he is not unbeatable. We believe the riders we have for the next two years are what we need to be competitive and challenge for the championship.

Funding from Italy and Spain has dried up, but other markets have improved. Because of the global popularity of the sport, our team is now in much better shape. The championship is looking pretty healthy now, and I see an optimistic future.