When MotoGP series organiser Dorna launched its own electric racing series back in 2019, it did lots of things right.
Running as a one-make series and starring some genuinely big names, MotoE engaged fans and produced close racing that helped many overcome a prejudice towards the class.
Since then, the on-track action has gone from strength to strength as well, with Energica’s Ego machines producing what is regularly some of the best racing of a grand prix weekend.
However, there’s a very real danger that 2021 will be a step backwards – thanks in large part to the inflexibility of Dorna and the problems that lie with the calendar and the grid for the coming season.
In its opening season, MotoE was stacked with recognisable racers.
A third of the grid had previous MotoGP experience, and big names like Randy de Puniet and Sete Gibernau (pictured below) drew in people who might otherwise not have given an electric series a glance. They got fans hooked, and the strategy paid off.
But that won’t be the case this year, mainly because of calendar clashes.
With the MotoE series only running on six weekends, most of the grid look for other employment elsewhere for the rest of the season. MotoE might be an exciting series, but it’s not exactly flush with cash, and six rounds per season don’t pay the bills.
For most of the top names, their second job has been in the Endurance World Championship. However, with this year’s Bol d’Or, the second of the two 24 hour rounds on that calendar, set to take place the same weekend as the final double-header round of MotoE at Misano, a problem appeared.
And, with no desire from Dorna to rearrange its championship (especially as Misano is a home race for its Italian title sponsor Enel), some of the biggest names like de Puniet, Mike Di Meglio, Niccolo Canepa, Xavier Simeon, and Josh Hook have been essentially forced out of the electric racing series.
With no disrespect whatsoever to those who replace them, their seats have been taken over by a host of riders without any grand prix experience whatsoever, never mind having the pull of being a former MotoGP racer or a past world champion.
MotoE is still very much a series in its formative years, still finding its feet within motorcycle racing and still required to be treated to a certain extent with kid gloves.
It’s not yet a fan favourite, it’s not yet established despite its close and competitive racing, and it’s in danger of losing all the progress that it has made so far thanks to a lacklustre 2021 grid.
The hard reality is, the casual fan isn’t necessarily going to be tempted into watching a new series all that easily – especially one that comes with the baggage of electric vehicles.
But stick in a few names like Gibernau, a two-time MotoGP runner-up to Valentino Rossi, to lure fans in then show them incredibly close racing, and you’re onto a winning formula.
That’s worked well for the initial two seasons, even through the disaster of both COVID and a fire that destroyed the entire paddock even before racing got underway in 2019.
But MotoE needs momentum to carry it forward; momentum that’s in danger of disappearing in 2021.
What’s the solution? Well, the immediate one for 2021 would have been to find a way that allowed the biggest names in MotoE to remain on the grid instead of having to choose between one series and another.
But longer term, it’s to make sure that there remains a reason beyond the action on track to get fans engaged.
There also has to be a more concerted effort from Dorna, mind you.
Many fans (especially in countries without as inclusive a MotoGP TV deal as say Italy or the UK) really struggle to even find an opportunity to view MotoE.
Given the relatively low commercial value of the class, surely there’s an opportunity to open it up as a free-to-air broadcast online, the same as already happens for classes like the Red Bull Rookies or the Asia Talent Cup?
Because the reality is, electric racing is here to stay. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the technology being developed in MotoE (and in sister series Formula E) is going to have far more of an impact in the near future on the bike you ride or the car you drive than MotoGP or Formula 1 will have now.
