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MotoGP’s sporting director Carlos Ezpeleta has confirmed that series promoter Dorna is working to find a way to amend the series’ concession rules to lend a helping hand to the struggling Honda and Yamaha teams.
But it might find that the route to finding agreement with the strugglers’ rivals isn’t an easy task.
Speaking to Radio Catalunya’s Damia Aguilar, the younger Ezpeleta (whose father is series boss) confirmed reports that Dorna is interested in adjusting the series’ concession points system, something that’s been hinted at in recent weeks as both Yamaha and Honda continue to struggle to perform.
“We are working on being able to help, not only Honda, but also Yamaha, so that they can be competitive again in a faster way,” said Ezpeleta.
“Honda and Yamaha were very considerate with the concession rules in the past.
“And that was vital for Ducati to be competitive and also for Suzuki to be so quickly, and for KTM and Aprilia to officially enter the world championship and be competitive as well.
“The other manufacturers will also understand Dorna’s official position is that the concessions system must update.”
The current concession system was introduced for the start of the 2016 season and has, as Ezpeleta says, allowed brands like Aprilia and KTM to close on MotoGP’s more established manufacturers.
Marques with concession status had nine engines during a season instead of seven, the right to not seal their engine specification before the season, six wildcard entries instead of three, more test days allocated and factory riders able to test in non-official test days, and those have proven invaluable to helping new teams progress.
However, with Aleix Espargaro’s victory last year in Argentina, Aprilia became the last of the series’ factories to lose the special status. It was awarded on a points system where a win counts as three points, two for second and one for third, and gaining six points within two years strips away the concessions.
It also means that Alex Rins’ unexpected victory at the start of this season in Texas has ensured that Honda in particular will not gain the status for the first time ever any time soon, even despite the current dark situation it finds itself in with a 2023 RC213V whose main role seems to be breaking bones.
That’s why Dorna has floated the idea of amending the way in which concessions are awarded – an idea that while it has merit on face value might in reality be totally impossible to achieve in practice.
That’s because, under MotoGP’s rule book, ultimate decision-making power when it comes to significant technical rule changes lies not with Dorna but with the Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers’ Association, an organisation made up of MotoGP’s five factories – and where each team holds not just a vote but also a veto.
It’s hard to see a highly successful team like Ducati – which just last week vetoed a proposed minor tweak to the weekend’s schedule asked for by the riders on safety grounds – allow anything that might potentially help its rivals close in on its dominant Desmosedici, especially while Honda and Yamaha continue to employ both Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo respectively.
