A season which has not started or which has only been able to be played for the moment with one game, cancellations galore but with still a hope of racing later, it is nothing to say that the teams are today in turmoil. The coronavirus pandemic which confines them to their workshops is deadly for their ecosystem. From MotoGP to WSBK and even in Formula 1, the concern is great and few already think that at the end of this crisis, everyone will still be there...
Gresini talked about it, Cuzari who takes care of Forward too just like our Hervé Poncharal national who knows the subject all the more because he is in the upper echelons of theIRTA, the association of Grand Prix teams. In WSBK, the situation is the same, or even worse. What is it about ? The economic and social tension caused by a global pandemic coronavirus who confined the world. However, for these teams involved in a motorsport world championship, locking them up in their workshops means euthanizing them.
To fully understand this dramatic situation, you must know that even the powerful Formula 1 wobbles on its foundations. “ There is a big risk that quite a few teams in England (in F1 and outside F1) will close their doors. Many of them don't have the cash flow to survive a time like this. This is going to be a real challenge » thus declares a David Richards, former boss of several teams, notably in Formula 1, who today chairs British motorsport within the Motorsport UK association.
To drive the point home, Frederic Vasseur, from Alfa Romeo Racing warns: “ it affects everyone. So now is a good time to change things. This is the biggest crisis that F1 has experienced in the last X years. Half a season postponed, we had never experienced that. Financially, the crisis will impact the teams in an incredibly hard way. Now is the time to react. We must not wait three months to make decisions that should be made immediately, because otherwise, there will be no survival for many teams. This is the truth of the system. »
If the strong structures of F1 crack, imagine the violence of the impact for a private team in WSBK… On GPOne, Manuel Puccetti which makes rolling Kawasaki notes the damage after the postponement of Qatar, Assen and Jerez. “ It must be said that this is a very special moment, which has never happened before." he comments. “This means that for us too the situation is complex to face, but at the same time, it becomes complicated to understand all the losses. We are indeed trying to make the necessary checks on the costs at the start of the season. »
« When the schedule is set, we immediately book flights, hotels or apartments, as well as car rentals. The cost of all this is around 70 euros. You realize that in non-European events, there are 000 people who ride with me in the team, while in Europe, there are 25 of us, because there are all the reception staff. »
« We are currently quantifying everything and I can say that we were not reimbursed for the hotel in Qatar, as in Spain, in Jerez. As for the flights, Ryanair partially reimbursed them, but the problem is that my team is not made up exclusively of Italians who travel from Rome, Bologna or Milan. They come from other countries and therefore travel with different companies. Each of them has different policies and in some cases we are not covered. »
On the continuation of events and the best option to favor between canceling and settling for fewer meetings or maintaining the same number of meetings at all costs, the heart of the same Puccetti scales, a sign of real fragility: “ the situation is not easy, given that we are faced with something exceptional and which has never happened before. I am of the opinion that if races are held, it is good, because we can respect all these agreements with companies, which invest to see their brands on the track. At the same time, I say that cancellations can also be good in some ways because there would be fewer costs to bear. Personally, I doubt that all sponsors will maintain their commitment in such a situation. As I said, it is true that we are taking less money, but we are also spending less. »
Indeed, the teams have partners. And the latter are also in turmoil... Let's finish by returning to the case of Formula 1: with the value of the category divided by two and more since the start of the coronavirus crisis, some F1 financial experts are worried about the makes the promoter Liberty Medium plans to resell the sport in order to save, at least, its initial investment. But the bike is lucky to have a Carmelo Ezpeleta at the bar. He will be able to reassure shareholders... Right?
