As a former motorcycle and car driver, Carmelo Ezpeleta (Barcelona, ??1946) controls the art of braking in time, and as a basket-pounder that he was, there is no ball that he does not return. Head of the MotoGP World Championship since 1992, when Dorna Sports assumed management of the championship, Ezpeleta faces his 33rd season as the one with the highest quality in history. Who can miss the start in Qatar with Marc Márquez on a Ducati? The MotoGP boss was honest during his visit to La Vanguardia.
What World Cup is presented in 2024?
An exciting World Cup is coming up. In preseason training everyone has been very close, and although the gunpowder is spent in the war, a very competitive championship is predicted.
Is the promoter worried that there will be a Ducati monopoly like in the last two years?
Well, it’s a commercial decision for the teams. Ducati has been able to give better economic conditions to independent teams. The other builders have realized this, and in the coming years things will surely change. Last year the title was between two Ducati riders and it was very interesting and fun, the Riders’ World Championship is very open.
What is Dorna’s priority?
There were times when there were up to eight Yamahas and eight Hondas. There was no one else. We have gone where we wanted: for the World Cup to have a life of its own with independent teams. The World Cup is a mix between economic sustainability and making the championship competitive. It is a competitive World Cup because we have 16 motorcycles in a second and there is economic sustainability due to the superior help to the teams that Dorna gives them, which allows them to continue without financial problems.
What will they do to get Yamaha and Honda back on top?
A new concession system has been established. The pandemic was much harder in Japan, factories were able to work much less. In Europe they were able to work and they got a difference, especially Ducati, but also Aprilia and KTM, and a new concession system had to be established in which Honda and Yamaha were rewarded more, KTM and Aprilia a little, and has punished Ducati. It could have been imposed, but we preferred to reach an agreement. Ducati didn’t like it, but they accept it because they know it’s important for the championship.
Is there any compensation for Ducati so that he does not feel aggrieved?
They have eight bikes and win almost every race.
Last year they introduced Sprint races on Saturdays and cut back on training. Did it provide what they were looking for?
Yes, definitely. Even more than we expected: there were audience increases and audience increases on the circuits. There are places where the television audience increased by 100% on Saturday, and on the circuits, at least, audience attendance has increased by 50%, and in some places, such as Valencia, 100%.
They admitted that it was a somewhat stressful program for the pilots. Is it going to be alleviated in some way?
We already alleviated it a little in the middle of the year by changing the training schedule. We do believe that the races must be maintained and that there is no reason why they should be in some GPs and not in others. If they are done, they are done in everyone. The schedule will be adapted to what is believed to be best at all times.
Is Dorna in favor of introducing any changes in favor of the show?
If we think of something that could be good, we are in favor of always changing. This year, for now, there will be no news.
One of the most notable developments that will occur in 2024 is Marc Márquez’s change of motorcycle and team. Was the World Cup organizer interested?
Marc is a very responsible person, as well as a magnificent pilot. He valued it and thought about it a lot. If he has made this decision it is because it was the best he could do.
But you are doing well…
It’s good for us if it’s good for him. Marc wants to have fun on the bike again, and for us, that one of the main players in the championship is in a position to do so, and it seems good to Honda and Ducati, we have nothing to say. But we wouldn’t do anything just because it’s better for the show. The sports part is more important than the entertainment part.
Personally, were you feared that Marc Márquez would retire?
No the truth is no. He worried me more when he was physically ill, that’s when I was scared, that he wouldn’t solve his humerus problems and they would force him… Because there was a time when he ran very weak.
He speaks like the father of the great MotoGP family…
I’m a little older. I started out as one of the youngest and 30 years later I am the oldest of all. I have an exceptional team of people who work very well, and my advice is still appreciated. I feel not the father, but the responsible one, yes.
How do you get along with the pilots?
I think it is difficult for anyone to have had a better relationship with their drivers than I have with mine. We see each other every Friday at the safety commission, and we have always tried to have a very close relationship because this is a risky sport and the opinion of the pilots is very important for the regulations.
They have been managing the World Cup for 32 seasons. Is the pilot of today more docile, less rebellious than those of other times?
I don’t believe it. But I can’t take the temperature now like in 1992 (first year of Dorna). All the drivers today started racing with Dorna as organizer, and that gives you a different point of view than the Americans or Doohan’s time had. According to the FIM, we have established a system whereby drivers, teams and factories now count much more than they did before. The system is what has changed.
Why have you been reluctant to create a pilots’ association or union?
I’m not reticent at all.
He had said that the representative body of the pilots is the safety commission…
On security issues it is clear. We are not going to have a representative of all the drivers come to talk about safety, instead of having them all come. We have already told them no. For the other issues, I have nothing against them wanting to send a representative.
Before there were very powerful voices among the pilots, the Valentinos, Stoner, Lorenzo…
Now there are many more, and many are powerful. Marc Márquez is very important, Pecco too. Martín talks, Aleix Espargaró says a lot and we talk a lot.
Are there a lack of charismatic drivers after the retirement of Rossi, Pedrosa, Lorenzo and the upcoming retirement of Márquez?
I don’t think so. I have never believed that Valentino was what he was because of his charisma, but because he was very good and he was also very nice. Is it better that each year a different one wins or that one becomes the legend of winning each year? I have to worry that sport is carried out in the best conditions and with the greatest equality possible, and that has been achieved in recent years.
Is the great hope for the future, in terms of figures, Pedro Acosta?
I don’t say anything about all that… I don’t like making predictions. We’ll see. They are all very good. Yes, I can say that never in the history of the top category have there been drivers as good as now. In the time of the Americans, fifth was two and a half seconds away. Now, you make a one-second mistake on one lap and you’re 16th.
Formula 1 has always been a mirror of MotoGP. Do you envy anything about his cousins, like the growth of the show, perhaps?
Being compared to F1 is a huge compliment, because it has nothing to do with it. The impact of the car factories on the World Cup gives them a possibility of economic resources, reaching spectators and promotions that we do not have. Despite that, it is a pride to be compared. From a sporting point of view I have nothing to envy about F1 and from a promotion point of view I have a lot to learn and envy from them. I will learn everything I can from them, but not everything can be copied.
What would you like to have from the current F1?
They have been able in recent years to reach a segment [of the population] that they did not have before. 5-6 years ago it seemed like we were the good guys. Then they made a change, because Liberty Media introduced new features that have turned out well. I don’t think that the success of F1 is only because of Drive to survive [the Netflix documentary series about F1], but that they did marketing actions, social networks… with time. In that we do have a lot to learn.
They have opted for a spectacular GP, like Las Vegas or Miami, or in the future Madrid. Is MotoGP going to tend towards that?
The packaging is a show, but the race is the race. The reality is: does a lot of people go and does it create interest? It’s good for the show. The accompaniment they provide is good, that is why we have adopted the Riders parade or the Fan Zone, because they are steps to interest the public. But I want to have the races the way I have them.
This year the four GPs return in Spain with the return of Aragón. Will there not be alternation?
I believe, I only believe, that between now and 2026 the four grand prix in Spain will be able to be maintained. After 2026 many things can happen.
Is a MotoGP GP on the Madrid street circuit plausible?
If the circuit is not safe, no. This disquisition between permanent and urban circuits is not ours. Either they are safe or they are not. The one in Lombok (Indonesia) is not permanent, it is streets. For us, safety is vital, and that is why urban circuits have been impossible. Saudi Arabia wants to have a MotoGP race, but until there is a permanent circuit we won’t even consider it. If the necessary works were done, we could go.