As a former motorcycle and car driver, Carmelo Ezpeleta (Barcelona, ??1946) controls the art of braking in time, and as a top basket practitioner that he was, there is no ball that does not return. Most responsible for the MotoGP World Championship since 1992, when Dorna Sports took over the management of the championship, Ezpeleta faces his 33rd season as the highest quality in history. Who can miss the start in Qatar with Marc Márquez on a Ducati? The MotoGP boss was sincere in his visit to La Vanguardia.
Which World Cup is presented?
An exciting World Cup is coming. In the pre-season tests they have all 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 the last two years?
Well, it’s a team business decision. Ducati has been able to give better financial conditions to independent teams. The other builders have noticed and in the coming years it will change for sure.
What is Dorna’s priority?
It is a mix between economic sustainability and the championship being competitive. It is because we have 16 bikes in a single second and there is economic sustainability due to the superior help that Dorna gives to the teams, which allows them to continue without financial problems.
How will they make Yamaha and Honda back on top?
A new system of concessions has been established. The pandemic was harder for the factories in Japan, which could not work, and in Europe they did and they took a difference, especially Ducati, but also Aprilia and KTM. A new system of concessions has had to be established in which Honda and Yamaha have been rewarded more, KTM and Aprilia a little, and Ducati has been punished. He didn’t like it, but he accepts it for the World Cup.
Do they give them compensation?
They have eight bikes and win almost every race.
Last year they introduced Sprint races and cut practice. Did it deliver what they wanted?
Yes, without a doubt, even more than we expected: there were increases in audience and audience at the circuits. There are places where the television audience increased by 100% on Saturday, and at circuits, at least, attendance increased by 50%, or 100% in some places like Valencia.
One of the most notable developments in 2024 will be Marc Márquez’s change of bike. Was the organizer interested?
Marc is very responsible, as well as a superb pilot. He valued it and thought about it a lot. If he has made the 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 we, that one of the main players in the championship is in a position to do it, and Honda and Ducati think it’s good, so we have nothing to say. But we wouldn’t do anything just to make it better for the show. Sports prevail.
Did you personally fear a withdrawal from Marc?
No, the truth is not. I was more concerned when he was physically unwell; then I did get scared, that he wouldn’t solve his humerus problems and they would forget him… Because there was a time when he ran very emaciated.
He speaks like the father of the great MotoGP family…
I’m a little old to be the father… 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.
How do you get along with the pilots?
It’s hard for anyone to have a better relationship with their drivers than I do with mine. We meet every Friday at the safety committee and we have always tried to have a close relationship because this is a risky sport and your opinion is very important.
After 32 seasons managing the World Cup, is today’s driver more docile, less confrontational than the one before?
I do not think so. But I can’t take the temperature like it was in 1992. With the FIM we have established a system whereby the riders, the teams and the factories now count much more than before.
Before there were very powerful voices, Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo…
Now many are powerful. Marc is very important, Pecco too, Martín speaks, Aleix Espargaró says a lot…
Missing charismatic pilots?
I do not think so. I never believed that Valentino was what he was because of his charisma, but because he was very good looking and also very nice. Charisma is achieved with years of winning. I have to worry that the sport is played in the best conditions and with the most important equality possible, and this has been fulfilled in recent years.
The great hope for the future is Pedro Acosta?
I don’t like making predictions. 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, the fifth was two and a half seconds away. Now, you make a one-second mistake and you’re 16th.
Formula 1 has always been the mirror of MotoGP. Do you envy anything about your cousins?
That we are compared to the F-1 is a beastly flattery because it has nothing to do with it. The impact of the car factories on the World Cup gives them a possibility of financial resources, of reaching spectators and of promotion that we do not have. From a sporting point of view I have nothing to envy about F-1 and from a promotion point of view I have a lot to learn. But not everything is copyable.
What would you like to have from F-1?
They have been able in recent years to reach a segment [of the population] that they did not have. 5-6 years ago it seemed that we were the good ones. Then they made a change, because Liberty Media introduced new things that have worked well for them. I don’t think their success is just because of Drive to survive [the Netflix documentary series], but they did marketing actions, social media. We have a lot to learn in this.
This year the four GPs return to Spain with Aragon. Won’t there already be the announced alternation?
I believe – I only believe – that between now and 2026 the four grand prizes in Spain will be able to be maintained. After 2026 we will see.
