The Catalan Motorcycling Federation, the largest of the territorial motorcycle associations in Spain with some 7,500 federated riders, will not participate in the events of the Catalunya MotoGP GP, which is being held this weekend, as a sign of protest with the Circuit from Barcelona-Catalonia. The entity is considered “ignored” and “underestimated” by the Circuit due to its “policy of management” of the facility, which has led to the Catalan Speed ??Championship being left without a date in 2024 to run in Montmeló.
According to the Catalan Federation, the “disagreement” with the Circuit originated last November, when the Campionat de Catalunya race, in which between 90 and 120 drivers (from 14-15 years old) participate, was not included in the calendar. annual Circuit for two reasons: due to lack of available dates and due to the financial demands of the facility’s managers, who prioritize the economic sustainability of the equipment.
“The Catalan Federation had had one weekend a year, never on a fixed date, but rather adapted to the availability and needs of the Circuit,” the president of the FCM, Tato Prat, explains to La Vanguardia. “We understand that an event of our size, the Campionat de Catalunya, is detrimental to the Circuit. But we are not asking that they give us a free weekend, but that we continue paying as until now, as has been done every year: with the few benefits that the race generates”, since for the FCM it is completely unaffordable to pay rent from track to Circuit.
As Tato Prat details, until now, the FCM compensated the Circuit with all the income associated with the Campionat de Catalunya weekend: the registrations of the teams and drivers, and the (scarce) ticket office. Amounts that could amount to around 40,000 euros.
However, opening the Circuit for a race weekend (services, security, staff, marshals…) has a minimum cost of around 80,000 euros, as reported by the facility’s managers to the FCM. “The premise that the Circuit has from above is that they cannot organize events that are deficient… although they already host others that are,” says Tato Prat, in reference to the F1 and MotoGP grand prix.
Faced with this situation that the FCM considers “unfair” towards the entity and “all its associates”, the board of directors of the Federation requests “a deep reflection from the Government of the Generalitat and the managers of the Circuit” so that they “reconsider a flexibility of the conditions of use of the Circuit” that allows the FCM to recover “the most special and emblematic race of the season.”
The FCM remembers that the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is “a public facility”, which “the users who paid for it” should be able to use, and more so an entity like the Catalan Federations with the competitions that provide the base, the pool of drivers that They feed part of the current MotoGP or Junior GP grids. “It is a problem of lack of sensitivity with Catalan motorcycling, simply because they understand that it is a race [of the Campionat de Catalunya] that is not profitable. Due to their economic strategy, this sensitivity or empathy does not exist,” says Tato Prat, who recalls that a dozen MotoGP riders have left the Catalan championships.
“As the Catalan Federation we cannot assume the expense” of a weekend. The approximate figure of 80,000 euros that it would cost to open the Circuit is equivalent to 40% of the entity’s annual budget “for all motorcycling: enduro, motocross, trials, speed, endurance…”.
The paradox arises that the Campionat de Catalunya 2024, with four weekends defined in its calendar, held the inaugural race at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Cheste (April 20-21), will have a race in Navarra (Los Arcos circuit , October 19-20), but not at the Circuit de Barcelona, ??“the home circuit where all our federated drivers want to race one weekend a year.”
The Catalan Motorcycling Federation has received the support of its colleagues from the Catalan Automobile Federation, which also does not have dates to be able to use the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit for the Catalan Championship races.
According to La Vanguardia from the FCA, “the problem is the same” as with Motorcycling.
Asked by La Vanguardia, Oriol Sagrera, CEO of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, expressed the willingness of the facility’s managers to “collaborate with all the Federations and promote motorsport; In fact, it is one of the purposes that the Circuit must have”, although, yes, “without ever losing sight of the fact that we are a company that must take into account the management of the business, and therefore, the results that it ends up obtaining. “.
According to the most authoritative voice of the Circuit below the president, Roger Torrent, “we have to reconcile the interests of promoting motorsport, motorcycling and motorsports, with the need to manage the Circuit as a company that must ensure good results.”
In that sense, Sagrera recalls that the Circuit “receives public financing and we must ensure that this public contribution is as small as possible, managing the company with excellence, rigor and professionalism, generating the maximum possible business.”
So, will there be a rethinking of the Circuit’s management policy regarding the request made by the Catalan Federations to use the Montmeló track? Sagrera’s response leaves no room for doubt: “The positioning of the Circuit has always been the same: maximum collaboration, the desire for the Federations to find a space in the Circuit to develop their activities. From the logic of promoting motorsport, it is essential that it be done from the Circuit to cultivate this ecosystem that allows us to be leaders in the generation of new drivers that make us have a global presence. For us it is a priority. Always within these parameters and this balance we will be receptive and have our arms open.”
