On Friday of the French Grand Prix, the MotoGP riders expressed their concerns to Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta about the precarious nature of their current contracts during the Safety Commission. These concerns arose after Romano Fenati’s contract with Speed Up in Moto2 was torn apart after just six races.
With the economic consequences of the pandemic and now the war in Ukraine, the official and independent teams of MotoGP are trying to reduce the salaries of their riders. Paco Sanchez, manager of Joan Mir who is trying to negotiate the deal for his own rider in 2023 after Suzuki’s decision to leave the premier class at the end of this season, says the riders deserve to sign contracts that have a salary. minimum, because “they are the stars of this world”.
“This is big business,” Sanchez said. “For me, this is like tennis and football and any other great sport. Part of this business should be reserved for the stars of the sport. MotoGP riders are the stars of this world. So I think they deserve to be paid a minimum wage, I don’t know if by Dorna, the builders or somebody. I’m not saying pay them like Marc Marquez, but a minimal basis because their lives are at stake. Sometimes we forget, but their lives are at stake. Some young drivers sign either if you offer them 100,000 euros or if you offer them zero ”.
As well as the discussion of a minimum wage in contracts, the pilots also raised concerns about the lack of protection they currently have, highlighting Fenati’s situation. There is currently no riders’ association in MotoGP as there is in Formula 1, nor is there a committee for contracts.
“We talked about having a minimum wage, because especially for the factory teams it is not conditioning,” said Aleix Espargaro when asked what they had talked about in the Safety Commission. “All factory riders are beyond this, but in private teams the riders risk their lives anyway – sometimes more than the factory riders”.
“So you have to have respect. Everyone was angry in the Safety Commission after what happened in Moto2 with a sacked rider. It seems we are not protected. If you conclude a contract with your current team you cannot go anywhere else if you are still under contract. But teams can do what they want. It’s not right. It is right that the teams have an association that protects them, but we feel discovered and this is not fair ”.
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