A timetable still uncertain
The 2023 championship had a number of scheduled races equal to twenty, which became 22 this year. An absolute record in the history of MotoGP which was partially ruined with the cancellation of the Grand PrixArgentina and with the homologation still underway for the Grand Prix of Kazakhstancanceled last year.
Too many races
Regardless of what happens, the 2024 calendar has still been criticized by the KTM Motorsport Director, Pit Beireralthough in favor of maintaining the Sprint races: “I think the number of races is really at the limit and we as a group we would prefer a slightly lower number rather than a higher one – he explained in a statement reported by crash.net – we are very supportive of Sprints. We love racing, so I like to see a race already on Saturday. I think this makes the GP better for our fans, for the public and for ourselves, but I think we have to be very careful about the crew, the team members and the drivers. Many times with extra races we are talking about races abroad, which places a greater burden on team members and their families. So I think that we have to be very careful and see if we can't reduce the number of races a little. This is a clear feeling on our part. When you saw the team members at the end of the season, it was like you needed to motivate some of them to stay on board and repeat an entire season like we did. So we have to be very careful.”
Rivola also agrees
A thought that finds full support and total sharing also from the CEO of Aprilia Massimo Rivola, especially regarding the number of races: “Personally, I finished last year completely destroyed because, with the Sprint format, on Friday you are already in qualifying mode – he added in another statement to the media – so, every weekend, Sunday evening we were quite tired. The season was tough“.
The non-European option
However, Rivola himself would also be in favor of a greater number of races abroad, but in non-European countries which could offer greater commercial opportunities. The latter replacing nations such as Spain and Italy, which host more than one GP within their borders: “Thinking about 21 or 22 GPs, it means 42 or 44 races. It's definitely a lot – He admitted – if we could have less, we could certainly benefit from it. If it's good for the sport, it's something we need to discuss with Ezpeleta and understand. I'm Italian, but maybe we should have fewer races in Italy and Spain. So fewer races in Europe and go where the money is. We need big sponsors in this industry. To attract them, perhaps it would be good to go to Indonesia, as well as India. So we go to the places where there is money or the market for motorbikes“.
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