The idea was touched upon, the prospect glimpsed, but ultimately, it was all a mirage. MotoGP is, however, the oasis where the colors of the unobtainable natural drink Leopard wants to drink, but the taste is still too fruity for the entity of the former mason Flavio Becca, who became a real estate magnate in Luxembourg... Christian Lundberg, its technical director, recognizes that the project has been postponed indefinitely.
The team Leopard Racing thought he saw a shooting window as he got closer to the team Avintia belonging to Raul Romero, learning that this adventure in MotoGP was in its twilight. But others were also able to position themselves more strongly, like the VR46. It therefore no longer remained for the azure colors to withdraw from the theater of operation which would have required them 10 times more resources than what they currently have in place. Moto3.
A season Moto3 with two pilots costs around 1,5 to 1,8 million euros, in MotoGP a budget of 10 to 12 million is due. And the technical team should also be tripled. Moving up a category, the team Leopard tried with the Moto2 in 2016 after a title in Moto3 in 2015 with Danny Kent. A bitter failure that the second pilot at the time Miguel Oliveira commented: “ the 2016 season was the worst of my life ».
We also lend the idea to Leopard for wanting to replace the team Forward, Cuzari then left to go to prison... But make no mistake: the team Leopard is still a serious entity: he won the Moto3 World Championship in 2015 with Danny Kent, 2017 with Joan Mir and 2019 with Lorenzo Dalla Porta on Honda.
MotoGP? Leopard not yet ready for this task…
But leaving this category and exploring other horizons is apparently not easy. And it still won’t be right away: “ there are not enough places for us in MotoGP at the moment »Says Lundberg. " We have been talking with Dorna for a while, but as of now there is no window for us that we can open or reach. Maybe the situation will change in a year or two. This would be practical, because we are not yet prepared for this step ».
He finishes : " we have no chance of participating in the MotoGP World Championship next year » confirms the Spaniard to Günther Wiesinger of Speedweek. « Maybe even 2022 will be too early for us. MotoGP is definitely the Formula 1 of motorcycle racing and every team strives to go in this category. In the future, I want to go there. But now we are not ready for this task ". From Leopard means…
