MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3: We are rationalizing space on planes...

Built since 1969, the last Boeing 747, provisionally registered BOE704, has just left the assembly lines in Seattle and will soon be delivered to Atlas Air, one of the companies used in the past by MotoGP to transport all the equipment during races in overseas countries.

But, for the sake of rationalization and undoubtedly also following the problems encountered last year with an old 747 to fly to Argentina (“ Fly little plane, fly! ), Dorna Sports has made the decision to only use more modern 777-F cargo planes.

First consequence, by using a single aircraft model the teams will be able, and will have to, adapt their flying cases to the dimensions of the 777 in order to maximize the use of space, in particular by partly using beveled transport boxes to the upper deck of cargo planes.

This will also shorten the loading time of cargo pallets which previously took around 8 hours by air, making the schedule extremely tight when dealing with back-to-back races or long-haul events, crates unusual or oversized significantly hampering this operation, compromising the schedule, security and integrity of the crates and leaving volume unoccupied, which increased prices…

Place therefore a certain logic, presented in detail in a document sent by the IRTA to all the teams concerned.

Concretely, all the transport boxes, generally made of carbon, must be reviewed, some having to be beveled, the others having to be reinforced to be able to receive beveled boxes placed on them and fill as best as possible the volume allocated according to the international Q5 format of 19 m3.

MotoGP works with DHL which uses its own AMJ pallet containers with suitable dimensions.

It is up to the teams to maximize the volume, but the motorcycles generally have their own individual boxes (a), filling the allocated volume with only 3 types of flying boxes is sometimes a headache, a small game which currently occupies all the teams concerned...

This is therefore a big investment for the teams, amortizable over several years. For the 2023 season, this only concerns the Moto2 and Moto3 teams, but the MotoGP teams already know what awaits them next year!