Carmelo Ezpeleta

A cursory glance at sales of new motorcycles provides an interesting insight into exactly where the future of motorcycling lies. Though its traditional home is Europe, North America and Australia, those markets are rapidly becoming just a tiny part of total motorcycle sales, with Asia claiming a rapidly expanding share of the global market. The recent marketing tours by Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi around India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand underline exactly how important these markets are to Yamaha and the rest of the Japanese manufacturers.

The news that MotoGP is set to change capacity and formula again for the third time in 10 years has caused as much concern as it has joy. Almost everyone concerned has welcomed the return to 1000cc, not least the riders, and many people also expressed the commonly-held opinion that the switch to 800cc was the worst thing to happen to the class. But many observers also pointed out that the change of formula, though aimed at cutting costs in the long term, meant yet more expenditure in the short term as the factories would be forced to develop a brand new engine once again.

That criticism is shared by the MSMA, the association representing the manufacturers in MotoGP. According to MCN's extremely well-informed MotoGP reporter Matthew Birt, the MSMA is pushing for the 800s to get a reprieve in 2012. Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta told Birt that 2012 regulations will allow two separate formulas to run side by side, as in the first year of the MotoGP four strokes in 2002. Having invested so heavily in their 800cc machines, the factories could continue to run the smaller capacity bikes against the 1000cc bikes, with the liter bikes restricted to a maximum bore of 81mm and four cylinders, as announced in Geneva at the end of last year.

If anyone had any doubts about the importance of the meeting of the Grand Prix Commission at Geneva on December 11th, Carmelo Ezpeleta's charm offensive in the media should remove them completely. Ezpeleta spoke to Motoworld.es on Friday about the new regulations due to come into force in 2012, and today, the Dorna CEO gave an extended interview to the Spanish sports daily AS.com, in which he expanded on the changes.

Ezpeleta's main purpose with the interview was to make clear that the switch back to 1000cc will not in any way impinge on the World Superbikes series' territory. The bikes, Ezpeleta emphasized are prototypes, and will have nothing to do with production bikes. "There will not be a word in these regulations about production engines," Ezpeleta told AS.com. The bikes are prototypes, and which engine was used was entirely up to the builder of the bike, not something set out in regulations.

Ever since the announcement that MotoGP will return to 1000cc in 2012, a war has been brewing between Infront Motor Sports, the commercial rights holders for the World Superbike series, and the FIM and Dorna. IMS, in the person of Paolo Flammini, has threatened on several occasions to defend what they believe to be their exclusive right to organize production-based motorcycle racing against any move by the FIM - or rather, the Grand Prix Commission, in which the FIM, Dorna, the manufacturers' association MSMA and the teams' assocation IRTA all have a seat - to allow the use of production engines in the MotoGP class.

The FIM has come out clearly on the side of MotoGP, with Vito Ippolito stating clearly that the World Superbike contract does not pose an obstacle to the use of production engines in MotoGP. Ippolito's argument is that IMS' contract grants them the exclusive right to organize races for production motorcycles, not motorcycles using production engines.

Despite the fact that the proposal to return to a 1000cc capacity was made by Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna have kept very quiet on the whole affair. Yesterday, however, in an interview with the Spanish website Motoworld.es, Ezpeleta spoke out to clarify Dorna's position, though he did so very carefully. He emphasized that he did not want to get into a war of words with IMS over the definition of a production engine. "Nowhere will we say anything about using production engines, nothing, nowhere." Ezpeleta told Motoworld.es. "Nor will we draw up a definition of whether an engine is a production engine or not."

The 800cc formula is dead. MotoGP is set to return to 1000cc from 2012, according to a proposal submitted to the Grand Prix Commission at Valencia today. The 800cc bikes have received a deluge of criticism, almost from the moment they were introduced, and that deluge has finally buried them.

The decision has hinged upon a change of mind by the MSMA, the manufacturers association. So far, the manufacturers have been opposed to any changes to the MotoGP formula, partly because high costs of entry created a barrier to new entrants in the class, allowing the existing participants to dominate the class. But the high costs have taken their toll even on the existing manufacturers, and with the future of Suzuki in the class in doubt under the current rules, and even doubt about just how long Honda was prepared to continue, a change was almost inevitable. 2012 is the earliest date it is possible to make the change, as the current 5 year contract that exists between Dorna, the FIM and the MSMA expires at the end of 2011. That contract states that no changes may be made to the engine capacity without a unanimous decision by all of the manufacturers in the MSMA.

Ever since its inception, the 800cc MotoGP formula has been unpopular with both the fans and the riders. The high state of engine tune has made the formula extremely expensive, as well as requiring the extensive use of electronics just to make the bikes ridable. This, in turn, has taken much of the spectacle out of the riding, requiring an incredible precision of style to get the best out of them, and making passing very difficult indeed.

The biggest problem, though, is the expense. With the cost of leasing a satellite MotoGP bike upwards of 2 million euros a year, grids are shrinking with little prospect of that trend being reversed. Something clearly needs to be done, but with the manufacturers already heavily invested in the 800cc formula, getting any change in engine capacity through the Grand Prix Commission, MotoGP's rule-making body, is a very difficult task.

Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta is determined to try, however. In an online chat with visitors to the website of the Spanish TV broadcaster RTVE, Ezpeleta explained that he intended to push forward his previously discussed plans for a return to 1000cc at this weekend's meeting of the Grand Prix Commission at Valencia. When asked if he would like to see a return to 1000cc in 2011, he replied "Right now, it is not going to be possible to switch in 2011, because the agreement with the manufacturers means that we could only make that change before the end of the 2011 season if there was unanimous agreement among the manufacturers. But we are thinking about a return to a 1000cc capacity from the start of the 2012 season, and we will start discussing it this weekend."

When news came that the 250cc class would be abandoned in favor of the four-stroke Moto2 formula, the first question that everyone raised was whether the 125cc class would be next. The 125cc single cylinder bikes are the last bastion of the two stroke engine, and two-stroke fans both inside and outside the paddock fear that the writing is on the wall for the engine which came to dominate motorcycle road racing for such a long time.

The good news is that the 125cc class is here to stay, at least for a while. The German magazine Motorsport-Magazin spoke to Carmelo Ezpeleta at Estoril, and the Dorna CEO assured them that as far as he was concerned, the 125cc class should be left as it is, at least for the moment. The class serves as an excellent training ground for the champions of the future, Ezpeleta told Motorsport-Magazin. "Young talent gets their first chance to cut their teeth in the class and learn," Ezpeleta said. "The past has shown that nearly all of the riders at the front in MotoGP now were also very strong in the smallest class."

MotoGP's biggest problem right now is the number of bikes on the grid. The withdrawal of Kawasaki, leaving just a single bike in the Hayate team cut the grid down to 18 bikes, and once Sete Gibernau's Grupo Francisco Hernando team pulled out, the field was cut just to 17. With Kawasaki almost certain to withdraw the last remaining bike from the Hayate team next year and the return of the extra Ducati for the Aspar team, the grid is likely to stay at 17, though it could increase to 18 if Honda does add an extra bike, as HRC has hinted it might.

To deal with this problem, and drastically reduce the costs of participation, Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta suggested that the rules be altered to allow production-based 1000cc engines in prototype chassis to run against the existing 800cc full prototypes. As a serious suggestion, it was almost certainly doomed from the start, but as a bargaining gambit, it has been a stroke of genius. The suggestion immediately jolted MSMA into action, and at the Sachsenring, the manufacturers organization offered a counter proposal to lease just 800cc prototype engines on their own, rather than entire bikes. They asked the Grand Prix Commission, MotoGP's rulemaking body, for some time to come up with a more detailed proposal, which they promised to present at the meeting scheduled for this weekend at Indianapolis.

That proposal was presented this morning to the Grand Prix Commission - sort of. After the Grand Prix Commission met, the press release issued contained only a few minor detail changes to the 2009 tire regulations, so MotoGPMatters.com tracked down Herve Poncharal, boss of the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team and IRTA's representative inside the Grand Prix Commission and asked him just what the MSMA's proposal had consisted of. The answer, it appears, is a little more complicated than just a straight proposal. 

The proposal to allow MotoGP riders just a single bike is close to being dropped, according to Carmelo Ezpeleta, head of Dorna. Under the proposal, each MotoGP rider would be allowed to have just one bike prepared and scrutineered for each weekend, instead of the current situation, in which they each have two bikes. Speaking to the Spanish radio station Onda Cero, he said "The idea of the single bike has just about been ruled out, mainly because of the success of the flag-to-flag rule, which we saw again at Le Mans and Mugello. I believe that the riders will have two bikes next season." But, he added, "It's not up to me."

The demise of the single bike proposal has been widely rumored over the past few months. The underlying premise of the idea was that the extra bikes which became available could be used to increase the size of the grid, but none of the manufacturers is inclined to increase their presence on the grid. Both Yamaha and Suzuki have flat out rejected any pressure on them to provide more machines, and Ducati is similarly inclined.

So far, only Honda has given any indication that it may provide more bikes for next season, with the fate of the Scot Honda team, where Yuki Takahashi and Gabor Talmacsi are currently sharing two bikes between them, likely to tip Honda's hand. Scot Honda team boss Cirano Mularoni is currently trying to squeeze at least one extra bike out of Honda for the rest of the season, and the response to his request will be indicative of Honda's attitude to provding more bikes.

The reason for the manufacturers' reluctance to provide more bikes if the single bike proposal were to be adopted is that for the factories, a large part of the costs of supplying bikes is in supplying the accompanying engineers to liaise between the teams and the factories. They may make savings on producing and maintaining extra parts, but these would likely be outweighed by the extra costs in personnel.

Those worried by the current state of the MotoGP championship - dwindling grids, rocketing costs and a barrage of rule changes aimed at "fixing" the problem - can be comforted by the state of Formula 1. While overtaking became increasingly rare in F1, the racing in MotoGP got better and better, until the pointless rule change reducing capacity from 990 to 800cc effectively killed off the racing. But as long as F1 remained as processional as it had been for the past 10 years or so, MotoGP had nothing to fear, it was felt.

Then, with the onset of the topsy-turvy 2009 season, the on-track action in Formula 1 took a dramatic turn for the better, with overtaking making a big comeback. Tragically for F1, though fortunately for the MotoGP series, the off-track arguments have been tearing the world's premier motorsport apart just as the on-track antics are making it a sport worth watching again. The teams and bodies that run the sport are engaged in an all-out war for control, with Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley attempting to impose a GBP 40 million budget cap on the teams, after first attempting to instigate a two-tier system of technical rules for capped and uncapped teams.

The dispute has seen FOTA, the fledgling Formula One Teams Association, set up to allow the teams to form a common front against Max Mosely of the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One Management, threaten to pull out of the 2010 Formula 1 championship, and set up a championship of their own.

Ever since it was realized that any attempt to field modified road bikes in Moto2 would be scuppered by a nuclear strike from Infront Motor Sports, the organization that runs World Superbikes and has an exclusive contract with the FIM to race production motorcycles, Dorna, the FIM and the teams have been casting about for a solution. What they came up with to avoid the confrontation with the Flammini brothers was for the the engines to be supplied by a single supplier, thus handily sidestepping the "production" problem altogether.

The contract for the spec engine was to open to public tender, and would last for three years. But ever since the proposal emerged at the IRTA Test at Jerez, there have been murmurings that the deal to supply the series had already been stitched up behind closed doors, and the open tender process would be a mere formality.

According to Visordown's MotoGP mole - an anonymous but often well-informed source - this is precisely what has happened. Visordown is reporting that the Moto2 engine deal will be awarded to Kawasaki, as a way of keeping them in the series without the Japanese manufacturer burning through cash in the way that their MotoGP program did.

In a press conference held today during the IRTA tests at Jerez, Vito Ippolito, the president of the FIM, and Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna, announced a series of measures aimed at cutting costs in MotoGP. More details to follow, but here are the rule changes:

• At the end of the 2009 season, teams will only be allowed to use 5 engines for the last 7 races. This leaves the previous rule unchanged, answering speculation that the number of engines could be reduced after the Hungarian MotoGP round was dropped from the calendar, which would have meant 5 engines having to last for 8 races.
• For 2010, each rider will have 6 engines to last the entire 18 race season. The engines will be sealed, and Dorna will be able to monitor remotely which engines are being used as the riders exit the pit lane.
• The penalty for any infraction of this rule is that the rider will be docked 10 points from his championship points total. The manufacturer will also have 10 points deducted in the manufacturer standings, regardless of whether the rider was on a factory bike or a private bike.
• Testing will be limited to 8 days in total next year, with just 2 tests during the season after the races at Catalunya and Brno.
• As of 2010, only one bike per rider will be permitted. Teams will be allowed to scrutineer one machine for each rider. If a rider damages a chassis, a replacement chassis will have to be offered for technical inspection.
• Friday is under discussion. Talks are still ongoing about whether the Friday afternoon practice session will be dropped.
• Wheel rim widths are to be limited to two different sizes for front wheels, and one different size on the rear.
• Only 5 technicians will be allowed to touch the bike during practice sessions. Once practice sessions are over, more people will be allowed to work on the bike, but this number will be limited to 5 during practice.
• The minimum weight will be increased by 2kg for all engine configurations.
• In 2010, no rider eligible for Rookie of the Year will be allowed to go straight to a factory team. Instead, they will have to go to a private or satellite team for at least one year, after which they will be eligible to join a factory team.

MotoGP is right in the middle of team launch season, and most of these are fairly meaningless events - Yamaha's launch was "virtual" which turned out to mean they posted some stuff up on the website, while Repsol Honda's launch was virtual for Dani Pedrosa, as the injured Spaniard had to attend by satellite link. And if the factory team launches are fatuous, then satellite team launches, tragically, would seem to be almost entirely irrelevant.

Except for the launch of Fausto Gresini's San Carlo Gresini Honda team, that is. For while the rider interviews consisted of the usual platitudes - Toni Elias feeling like he is coming home, Alex de Angelis believing he is stronger than last year - the team had a special guest present at the launch. Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta was also present, and the enquiring minds over at Italian site GPOne.com seized the opportunity to grill the Spanish MotoGP boss. 

Their time was well spent, as Ezpeleta once again laid out his view of where MotoGP will be heading in the years to come. For Ezpeleta, the chief issue facing MotoGP was to cut costs. "We have introduced measures to cut costs. The only problem facing MotoGP is one of costs," Ezpeleta said. The Dorna CEO told GPOne that the Grand Prix Commission will be meeting after the IRTA tests at Jerez to discuss more dramatic cost-cutting measures. 

MotoGP continues its expansion eastwards. After adding Hungary to the calendar this year, Dorna announced that it has struck a deal with the Bulgarian Motorcycling Federation to stage a round of the series from 2012 onwards. The deal would see Bulgaria host the round for five years at first, and was struck in conjunction with a TV deal for the terrestrial broadcaster BNT to air the 2009 season of MotoGP. No details of which, if any, track the series would run at were released, but the series would visit with all three classes, MotoGP, 125s and the new Moto2 class.

While any expansion of interest in MotoGP must be welcomed, the experience with the Hungarian round must surely act as a salutary lesson. Uncertainty continues to cloud the Hungarian round of MotoGP, with disputes continuing between the Hungarian authorities and the Spanish construction company over both who is to blame for delays in the construction of the brand new Balatonring circuit, and the current status of the project. 

The difference, though, is that Hungary was awarded the race at very short notice. The Balatonring round was announced only a year before the race was due to start, a hard enough task in even the most ruthlessly efficient countries. But despite having three years to prepare, the job could be  even more difficult in Bulgaria. The former Eastern Bloc country is currently being threatened with a subsidy stop from the European Union, after continually failing to tackle the corruption that is rife throughout all levels of Bulgarian politics. Unlike Hungary, which is relatively well run for a former Soviet satellite state, there is little sense that things are likely to improve in the short term, and so however desirable more races in Eastern Europe may be, question marks remain over the feasibility of the project.