Dorna to the rescue of Honda and Yamaha
“My concern right now is helping Honda and Yamaha get back to the front”. Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna, made no secret in the press conference on the eve of the grand final in Valencia that he had the objective of rebalancing the forces on the field given that after the departure of Suzuki, MotoGP could not afford a further defection from part of the Japanese manufacturers. Honda and Yamaha are the only ‘survivors’ and in 2023 they have suffered terribly on a technical level.
Obviously it was not easy for Dorna to reach a compromise on such a slippery topic as concessions given that KTM and Aprilia have underlined that Honda and Yamaha are closer to them in the standings than KTM and Aprilia are to Ducati, a real ‘championship killer’ also due to the eight bikes on the track, four of which are official. Previously the concessions provided the points (1, 2 or 3) given in case of third, second or first place in the race. Reaching a threshold within a two-year period could cause the manufacturer who had now demonstrated that it was capable of fighting for podiums and victories to lose concessions.
Based on this mechanism, Honda and Yamaha would not have been able to access the concessions with the results of this 2023 because Honda won with Alex Rins in the United States and Yamaha reached the podium on several occasions with Fabio Quartararo. So Dorna has drawn up new concessions which provide for the establishment of four bands based on the percentage of points won. Each of the four bands has specifications regarding the wild cards, the number of tires that can be used, the number of engines and their possible development during the season and the test days available. Below is a preview of how the four bands are divided as reported by the newspaper speedweek.com.
Band A (currently only Ducati is included)
This range includes manufacturers who have obtained no less than 85% of the points compared to the leading manufacturer in the Constructors’ championship. Those who fall into this range will have the following ‘specifications’ to respect:
Test tires available: 170
Private testing: For test pilots only
Wildcards: 0
Number of tracks to be nominated as test tracks: 3
Engines available in season: 7 or 8
Engine development: Frozen
Aerodynamic updates: 1
Band B (currently no houses fall into this band)
This range includes manufacturers who have obtained between 85% and 60% of the points compared to the leading manufacturer in the Constructors’ championship. Those who fall into this range will have the following ‘specifications’ to respect:
Test tires available: 190
Private testing: For test pilots only
Wildcards: 3
Number of tracks to be nominated as test tracks: 3
Engines available in season: 7 or 8
Engine development: Frozen
Aerodynamic updates: 1
Band C (which currently includes Aprilia and KTM)
This range includes manufacturers who have obtained between 60% and 35% of the points compared to the leading manufacturer in the Constructors’ championship. Those who fall into this range will have the following ‘specifications’ to respect:
Test tires available: 220
Private testing: For test pilots only
Wildcards: 6
Number of tracks to be nominated as test tracks: 3
Engines available in season: 7 or 8
Engine development: Frozen
Aerodynamic updates: 1
Band D (which currently includes Yamaha and Honda)
This range includes manufacturers who have obtained 35% or less of the points compared to the leading manufacturer in the Constructors’ championship. Those who fall into this range will enjoy the following advantages:
Test tires available: 260
Private tests: owners will be able to participate in the shakedown in Malaysia
Wildcards: 6
Number of tracks to be nominated as test tracks: unlimited
Engines available in season: 9 or 10
Engine Development: Not frozen
Aerodynamic updates: 2
So the houses they will be classified into these four brackets depending on the points in the Constructors’ classification. A house could change its band after the summer break both ‘positively’ and ‘negatively’. If a manufacturer changes group after the summer break, the quota of test tires is immediately reduced or increased based on the new group, in the same way the test tracks become unlimited or three must be nominated. If you move from band C to band D the number of engines is increased with immediate effect; at the same time, engine development is no longer frozen. Engine specifications are free.
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