Between the five of them, they go well beyond the century of journalism devoted to Grands Prix and they came together for the third time to take stock in video of all the questions currently being asked in the small world of MotoGP.
The master of debates, Franco Bobbiese, who usually officiates in the Italian show Paddock TV, is in fact surrounded by the former pilot and nevertheless excellent journalist Matt Oxley (MotorsportMagazine.com, UK), from Michelle Turco (Moto Revue, France), from Manuel Pecino (PecinoGP.com, Spain) and John Zamagni (Moto.it, Italy).
But this time, it's downright Carmelo Ezpeleta, the big boss of Dorna Sports, who came to take full stock of the situation for 45 minutes, with news and details that bring hope!
We therefore offer you almost the entirety of this third chapter, for those who have a little difficulty with the language of Shakespeare...
Franco Bobbiese begins the interview by asking Carmelo Ezpeleta if he thought that one day elements outside MotoGP could put it in danger.
Carmelo Ezpeleta : " truly not ! Truly not ! If you remember, we were in Qatar when all this started and we thought it would be resolved in a few weeks. Then we postponed the American and Thai Grands Prix to try to start last weekend in Jerez. But later we came back and realized the problem was bigger. And it's true, it's not a sporting problem but it's the biggest problem since we managed the rights to the world championship. »
“But on the other hand, it is a challenge for all of us to try to do it, and one thing that has been very positive is the good contacts we have with all parties involved. We immediately spoke with the FIM and we work together very closely. Likewise, the people from the MSMA (builders' association) immediately got together and we proposed something and everyone agreed. They had several meetings to talk about this and we finally had a very important meeting, not only for this year but also for next year about technical issues. »
Then, and I appreciated it, we also spoke with our shareholder so that, in the worst case scenario, we could save the situation of independent teams during the season. After that, what we do is work on the different local scenarios, to try to establish the possibilities. But your question is true because this is the most difficult time we have had since 1992. The positive thing is that we are working together and I think if we are able to manage the situation we will be stronger in the future. »
Mat Oxley then asks the question of how the championship will look like from 2022, with technical developments possibly frozen for quite a long time due to the economic crisis which is certain and fewer Grands Prix...
“Yes, we have important steps to take today and we are currently focused on trying to make the 2020 season, but we have also started talking about it. The first step we took with the MSMA, which was approved by the FIM and the IRTA, was to try to freeze the technical aspects in order to reduce costs. Obviously, because of the economic crisis, sporting investments will be reduced but what we have to do is keep the best things we have in the championship from a sporting point of view, that is to say the races. In no way do we want to diminish the show we currently have. Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP are in a very good situation and so we don't want to reduce that. »
“Regarding the number of races, we have a contract for 2021 with 20 races and we cannot cancel that. On the other hand, all the promoters we have spoken to are happy to continue, so in my opinion, more races favor the championship because we can have an agreement to invest more money. But in any case, and in my opinion, the interest of countries in hosting the championship does not wane, and even during this period, we received two new requests to do races in the future. We think our sport is very good, and the real issue is trying to reduce costs. There are costs that are not necessary to have lower budgets and allow independent teams, manufacturers and everyone to be focused on that. Of course, it will be a championship different from what we have known so far, but not from a sporting aspect. From this side, we think that we must keep the current situation or even make it better, and try to continue like this. Of course, we will have fewer marketing opportunities. The only way is to continue to give money to the paddock like we are doing, or even more, to try to compensate for the loss of team resources from a sponsor point of view. It's our idea, but the most important thing is to try to keep the sport as it is. »
“For example, during discussions with manufacturers, we had some proposals. For example, the idea of freezing engines and aerodynamics for 2021 was a proposal from Dorna, perhaps two weeks after returning from Qatar. At first, a majority of manufacturers refused, then, when each of us realized the situation, they accepted and it was approved by a large majority. Everyone agreed and there was only one abstention. »
“Then, for example, the second thing we talked about is the possibility of having one motorcycle instead of two to reduce costs, as they have mentioned many times. Ultimately, we decided not because given the cost reduction compared to the possibilities that a second motorcycle offers us, we decided to keep two motorcycles for the near future. Because we think the flag-to-flag situation is fine as it is now, and secondly, if we only have one bike and a rider crashes during warmup, he won't be able to participate. Because of that, we decided that it was very important and worth it for the championship. We can narrow down another area. The important thing is that we do everything in conjunction with the manufacturers. First of all, we hope to have a championship that is worthwhile from a sporting point of view, and maybe we will have less marketing and other things, but we want to keep that. And of course, if necessary, we will talk to all teams to try to reduce unnecessary costs. »
Giovanni Zamagni then looks back on the 2020 season and asks if it is possible to get an idea of it now or if it will be necessary to cancel race after race at the last moment.
" I hope not ! As I said before, we have several scenarios. One of them is to try to start at the end of July and then focus on doing a few races in Europe, traveling to a maximum of five countries. »
» For our part, we do two things. One, in relation to governments, is to try to understand what the exact situation will be at the time when we propose to hold a Grand Prix. »
“The second point is that we are working on a protocol to show the authorities of each country that we are able to be safe. This is why we spoke to all the teams and all the manufacturers to decide on a maximum number of people, because it will be easier if we are fewer people. »
“Third, I also speak with local governments and developers to find out what the exact situation is. I know that the situation in Italy is not very good but it is not worse than in Spain. We are working with the Spanish authorities and there was also a meeting between the Italian Olympic committee and the president of the Italian motorcycling federation. Anyway, we arrived at a protocol by taking the Italian protocol and adding the Spanish protocol to it, and then we looked to see if there was anything that could improve it further, coming from another country. »
“Our plan is based on the fact that we are almost ready to do everything from the end of July, and the only issue not finalized is traveling from one country to another. It's a difficult problem because we have different people who don't live in Europe, and the first thing is to understand how these people will be able to get to Europe. We have been working on this over the last few days and normally these people who are not in Europe will have to arrive 14 days before and stay in Europe before starting anything. »
“The second thing is that we are preparing to have testing so that each person, which is 1 people, will be tested no more than four days before arriving in the first country. They will have to take a test, then, when they arrive in the country to enter the circuit, we will give a test to each of them, even if they show us their test dated less than four days ago. We will still do another test. »
“We will also take measures in the paddock to separate paddock people from circuit staff. This means that all marshals and all people working for the circuit will not be in contact with us, except in the event of an accident. One thing that helps us is that all drivers who participate in a race are equipped with helmets, which are more protective than masks, as well as gloves. So normally they don't need to touch anyone. But anyway, we're thinking about having a big medical team to try to take care of everything all the time. »
“Our idea is to try to keep things under control in the paddock at all times, not just body temperatures. For example, on a daily basis, if someone has symptoms, we will retest them, and we will take the temperatures of every person in the paddock daily. »
“It is a protocol that we submit to each country individually. »
“In principle, our scenario is to try to start at the end of July and race in Europe until the beginning of November, doing several races on the same circuit, but not on the same weekend: on two consecutive weekends. In some countries only one race, in others maybe two races. We still have to decide it but it will be mainly concentrated in Europe. Then after that, because we still have contracts with countries like Thailand, Malaysia, USA, Argentina, Japan and Australia, we are currently talking with them to see if they can accommodate the races or not. At the moment the situation clearly does not allow it, but we can wait. »
“What we will propose to the paddock is our scenario: from now on, from the end of July to November, to do around 10 or 11 races in Europe, then, at the beginning of September, to communicate if there will be races outside Europe. Obviously, outside of Europe it is not possible to do them without spectators, because when we do races without spectators, the promoter does not pay any amount and we can only do it at home, because traveling outside of Europe Europe without income is very difficult. This is the situation. If the non-European Grands Prix are able to race with spectators or if they can pay us compensation to have the race, we will do it, if it happens in November. The championship will therefore consist of 10/11 races, or maybe 14, but if there are 14, we will announce it in September at the latest. It is important to say this from the beginning because it would not be correct to announce at the end of November whether it is finished or not. »
“At mid-season, the paddock will know if there is the possibility of continuing, or not. In our opinion, this is the way to do things that best corresponds to the sporting spirit. »
Michel Turcot then asks Carmelo Ezpeleta if he can clarify whether the first race will take place in Spain…
“Brno and Austria are still on their original dates, the second and third weeks of August. In principle, if we can, we will keep these dates. If we can start before that, and we are studying this possibility, we will of course start in Spain. That's the idea. Of course, we may still need two or three more weeks to decide definitively. We think we will be able to come up with a schedule with a clearer situation during the third or fourth week of May.”
Manuel Pecino questions the freezing of technical development which could harm KTM and Aprilia…
“They continue with the concessions and will retain them for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. It is clear that the two manufacturers benefiting from the concessions will retain these concessions.”
The Spanish journalist then comes to the subject of Michelin and wonders if they are ready to produce tires.
" Absolutely ! I must acknowledge the help provided by Michelin. THE ??? is easy because there are fewer types or tires. We spoke together and they are ready to do them, mainly because we are going to race on circuits which are already approved and for which they have the data. The only circuit they don't have the data for was Finland, and that was pushed back until next year."
Mat Oxley then asks for details on the discussions that took place between Dorna Sports and the different ministries of the different governments.
“We are currently talking to Spain, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and we have to do it about Silverstone. So far we are part of the Higher Council of Sports in Spain, which is similar to the Spanish Ministry of Sports. The higher sports council has created a structure that we are part of with the Spanish federation to discuss the protocol and things like that. We discuss general things so that the protocol is accepted. We will also address the government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Health, through this national sports council.
In Italy there is something similar done daily by the Olympic committee. There are also a few people from us but it is mainly the Olympic committee and the Italian federation who made the protocol.
The purpose of these two structures is more to know how sport can start again, but not what concerns the particular measures to hold events. This is something we are talking about directly at the Department of Health and the Department of Transportation.
In the Czech Republic, we are talking with the government, with the government of South Moravia and with the city of Brno.
In Austria it is something that has been managed by the Austrian promoter, just like the protocol, because there also they want to start with Formula 1 and we have a similar protocol.
In France, we speak with Claude Michy who is in close contact with the French government and the different structures.
This is generally what we do. I have to say that the majority of countries we speak with are happy to host the events to show that the country is returning to normality. The most important thing is to try to get them to accept that we travel, and to be safe. We mainly talk to transport ministries and health ministries.”
Giovanni Zamagni then asks if MotoGP benefits from priority over Superbikes.
“No, no, it’s exactly the same thing! We have an obligation to do both and we consider Superbike in many discussions. Many of the circuits we are at will more than likely host a race or two for MotoGP and then host one for Superbike. We manage that. There are other circuits which will not be for both but our priority is of course to have the Superbikes with a goal of having 6 or 7 more races, even if there has already been one in Australia . That’s our idea, and it will depend on the situation because the medical protocol must be more or less the same.”
Michel Turco raises the hypothesis of a future withdrawal of certain manufacturers due to the economic crisis…
“Well, I'm afraid of everything (laughs), but one thing is being afraid, and the other is my understanding of things. The thing we are doing during this season is precisely to keep the teams alive for the future. As for the manufacturers, they are already talking about continuing, but regardless, it is something we cannot prevent. For example, during previous crises, in 2008, you remember that we tried to eliminate Fridays but it appeared that this did not lead to a great reduction in costs and that was a shame. This brings us back to the original question and the fact that we want to preserve everything that is an argument for being a good sport. Then, in my opinion, we need to cut back on other areas. »
“It's quite funny because last year we were talking about the difficulties of doing everything, and we didn't realize that we were in a very good situation. Now we are in a worse situation but we believe that by working together we can reduce costs a lot which will allow us to continue until the situation changes. We also believe that the reaction of our sponsors shows that they have confidence in us and that they believe they can continue. In my opinion, the most important thing is to maintain the quality of the sport, then save on the opposite. We consider money first to keep the sport alive, then we will deal with other matters later. Obviously, we think event requests from around the world will be interesting. It's an incredible crisis but everyone needs to get back to normal because otherwise it won't just be a MotoGP crisis but a global crisis. »
“We think we have to go to Austria to show the whole world that we are a very good tool to make people understand that the country is doing well and can organize. In my opinion, we must maintain the interest of the televisions and we think that we will have the interest from the countries, then from the sponsors. If someone has a top circuit, they can either have Formula 1 or us. There's not much else. So an organization, a country or a city that has a circuit needs to be on the calendar. We think that. »
“For television, we are competing with other sports and other possibilities. And for sponsors, we are competing against everyone. So I'm optimistic about the circuits, I'm also optimistic about the televisions although the situation may be a little bit more difficult than with the circuits, and we expect to try to help with that. concerns team sponsors. This is our scenario and we believe we can resolve these problems with the measures we are taking. »
Manuel Pecino underlines that journalists will not a priori be admitted to the Grands Prix behind closed doors…
“In this special situation, we must present a protocol that is acceptable to local authorities. And each time, when we spoke with the local authorities, they asked that there be no TV media. So it's not possible for us because we can't both reduce the number to 10 or 15 people and (accept journalists). This would lead to situations where people would ask why yes, why no. At the beginning we tried with 17 or 18 people but in each country the protocol is like that, and they do the same thing with all sports. It's the same with the football league. It doesn't come from us, it comes from governments. Of course, we are not happy with this situation because, for example, there will be no hospitality, and even if we will have different suppliers for the kitchen no one will eat in the usual hospitality.
“So it’s very complicated but we need to present to local authorities and ministries of health something that is possible. This is one of the worst news we have but until now we didn't realize it. Consider this: We're coming into this from the worst possible situation right now. Over time, as soon as governments allow us to do so, we will communicate immediately. »
Franco Bobbiese tries to conclude the interview with Carmelo Ezpeleta by asking him if this shortened season could favor an outsider.
" Honestly, I do not know. I've had conversations with different drivers from different categories, and the only thing I can say is that they can't wait to get started. The only question they asked me was whether it was possible, and it will obviously be possible, to do a test before the first event. Certainly we will do that. We all understand that we are in a very special situation and that it is very important to try to make the championship, if it is safe to do so. Logistically it's very complicated because many teams have staff coming from other continents, and we have to explain to them that they need to be in Europe at least 14 days before the first event. . But the only thing the drivers experience is that they are anxious to start racing. We more or less explain to them that, if we can, our idea is to have a race for two weeks in a row, then have a week of nothing before having two races in a row again and so on. We will try not to exhaust people during this period. Of course, doing 10 or 11 races between July and mid-November is difficult, but on the other hand they have been on vacation the whole time. »
Manuel Pecino asks the boss of Dorna Sports how long he sleeps each night, with all these problems in his head...
" No no ! To be honest, I usually make notes in my diary about the things I do. I've been home for two months now and I've never been home for two months in my life. On the other hand, I'm new to teleconferencing and it works great. I do not worry. I work normally. I wake up as usual and start working from eight a.m. until 19 p.m., just like I do in the office. Then, I do some activities like cycling and I sleep very well. Maybe even better than before, to be honest. But for example, we talked about the protocols, and maybe these will change, but today I don't know if they will allow me to go to the circuits, since I am over 70 years old ( laughs)! I have been to every race since 1992 and it is my goal to continue doing so, but maybe the coronavirus will not allow me to be at every race. I don't know but the situation is very strange and we must try to adapt as soon as we understand what the situation is. »
