MotoGP technique: When MotoGP travels around the world, a real logistical nightmare

The uncertainty surrounding the organization of last weekend's Argentine Grand Prix lasted until the last minute, while the MotoGP paddock was still awaiting the arrival of the 20% delayed freight from the last round of the championship in Indonesia. With 21 races on the calendar, including 7 overseas, travel is a headache to organize. With most teams located in Europe, the most expensive trips in terms of logistics and human movements are overseas, to reach countries like Argentina, Japan or Australia.

During these exotic trips, to which the teams must get used again after the COVID 19 pandemic, and due to the distance of the circuits from Europe, the MotoGP World Championship paddock – which usually numbers around 3000 people – must organize, with the help of a company specializing in logistics, the shipping of all materials. When a race ends, each team rushes to put the motorcycles in specific containers and dismantle the box and hospitality in record time. Trucks must be loaded towards the airport. For the teams, there is no time to lose, just like on the track! When GP weekends follow one another, as is likely to happen again at the end of the year, they only have 36 hours for all the equipment to travel from one circuit to another. And given the problems encountered this weekend, the sequence of Japan with Aragon in Spain at the end of the year promises to be complicated.

 

 

Five Boeing 747 and 777 cargo planes transport more than 380 tonnes of goods between each Grand Prix, distributed in 150 containers. All the equipment is distributed in specially designed crates. Each crate meets the exact needs of its contents in terms of dimensions and safety. As a general rule, we can say that the larger the team, the higher the number of flight cases; factory MotoGP teams being able to use up to 50 and a two-rider Moto3 team requiring no more than 3.

This represents a total of around 600 crates for the MotoGP teams, to be added to 200 or 300 others for Dorna. During overseas GPs, 30 of these boxes travel by plane and 15 by boat. In the 30 sent by plane are all the essential elements for the next race, in particular the 4 motorcycles, the main tools, computers, panels, televisions, etc... But also the most dangerous products such as oils, lubricants, etc... But don't forget the organizer, they must move their TV production equipment (50 tons), the timing system (7 tons), two BMW Safety and Medical Car and two motorcycles (5.5 tons) as well as their mobile hospital.

 

 

Each MotoGP team has the right to airfreight 9.5 tonnes paid for by Dorna. If the weight limit is exceeded, the extra kilos are prohibitively expensive, which is why some containers travel by ship. Even if it takes longer, with flawless organization, this saves a third of the budget that would be spent if everything traveled by plane!

By sea, several 40-foot (approximately 12 meters) containers are sent. Inside, we find around 4,5 tonnes of material to build hospitality (tables, chairs, kitchen equipment, etc.). The other half of the container is made up of other non-technical items used to construct the box: cables, panels, additional tools and other goods.

Once loaded, the first freighter takes off, most often around noon on the Monday following the race. The other three planes will follow at six hour intervals. After the cargo containing the organizer's equipment, which always takes off first, then comes that of MotoGP, Moto2 and finally Moto3. That's when everything goes well in this well-established organization. But sometimes, the war in Ukraine gets involved, which diverts air corridors. Add to that not one, but two planes from Aerostan's fleets to break down, and the organizers had to pull their hair out and adapt to offer a show worthy of the name this weekend. Indeed, the show must always go on. Canceling a Grand Prix because the equipment is in transit is not conceivable: the pressure was heavy on the shoulders of the organizer, who managed to get through it brilliantly.

 

 

Thus, according to the information that was transmitted to the teams, there was a delay last week in the departure of equipment from Lombok to Argentina due to a technical failure on one of the planes which was to be used. Due to the lack of aircraft available for an immediate alternative, the only solution was for one of the cargo ships that carried the initial cargo to Termas de Rio Honda to return to Lombok. Initially, it was hoped that this plane could land in Tucuman on Wednesday afternoon, but the schedule drifted from Thursday around noon to finally arriving at midnight. The full list of teams that were affected, in whole or in part, by the delay in sending equipment from Indonesia to Argentina is as follows:

Team Ducati: 10 missing containers, containing box layout, spare parts, tools, hospitality supplies, etc.

VR46 MGP Team: Everything

Gresini MGP Team: Everything

RNF: 2 containers missing

Team Yamaha engines: 3 containers missing

Team Yamaha MGP: 7 containers missing

Team Tech 3 MGP: 2 containers missing

Team KTM: 7 containers missing

Team Suzuki: 2 containers missing

Gresini M2 team: all

Team Ajo: all Moto2 and Moto3 are missing

Team MVS: 9 containers missing

Team VR46 M2: 9 containers missing

Team VR46 Mastercamp: 1 container missing

Leopard Team: everything

Team Avintia: 1 container missing

In addition, most suppliers, including Michelin, have been affected.

 

 

The two planes that suffered technical damage, belonging to Kyrgyz airline Aerostan, are both more than 35 years old - but amid a global shortage of cargo planes caused by both the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, MotoGP organizer Dorna was left in an unenviable situation and managed to respond well to the external obstacles that have stood in its way so far. His first major response was a complete change to the weekend schedule, with all on-track action canceled on Friday in favor of a heavily packed Saturday schedule ahead of Sunday's relatively normal race day.

But once the equipment arrives at the airport, after passing through customs in due form, you still have to transport all the equipment to the circuit, where it is not as simple as opening the flight cases and to race. Motorcycles are normally packaged 'as is' after races, meaning that after one final wet and dirty race in Indonesia, a significant amount of cleaning will be required.

 

 

Then the regular routine maintenance carried out before any racing weekend must also be completed and the box set up – a process which can easily take another eight hours and normally includes a full day's work for the mechanics on Wednesday and Thursday.

MotoGP is a race against time on the track, but also in the air, on the road, in airports and around the world.