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During a podcast last season, someone mentioned that they would like to have more races in the USA and that a new track was under development in Tennessee. Could be a substitute for Argentina or another race in the future.
Repsol first joined forces with Honda in 1995, with its famous orange colours going on to become one of the most recognisable in the history of motorcycle racing.
Repsol and Honda are entering the 30th year of their long-standing partnership, but the Spanish oil giant has scaled down its involvement in the wake of Marc Marquez’s departure to Gresini Ducati.
This means that for the first time in 30 years, Honda has made a major change to its MotoGP livery, reducing Repsol branding on the RC213V in favour of HRC's red, blue and white colours.
The hybrid HRC/Repsol livery was unveiled by Honda at the launch of the 2024-spec RC213V at an event organised by Repsol in Madrid on Tuesday.
Repsol Honda may have to modify their scheme again next season, depending on whether they get a new energy drink sponsor. Since Red Bull left with MM93, Repsol Honda cannot have a different energy drink sponsor this season.
The Honda factory team in World Superbike use a better livery. Red with a brighter blue and some white mixed it. Here is a link to some team launch photos.
Unfortunately, Honda are as bad in WSBK as in Moto GP, so you don't get to see their bikes on the track very often. They're usually circling towards the bottom of the top ten or worse, rarely at the front with Ducati, Kawasaki, and Yamaha. I expect more from BMW in WSBK this season with Toprak switching from Yamaha to the BMW factory team.
According to the provisional entry list, there will be 24 riders in the FIM Women's World Championship. One American, Mallory Dobbs.
Reports have emerged in the Spanish press this week suggesting Formula 1 owner Liberty Media is looking to diversify its motorsport presence by trying to buy a controlling stake in MotoGP promoter Dorna.
As first reported in Spanish business and economics publication Expansion, Liberty is said to be in secret talks over a takeover of Dorna.
At face value, that doesn't come as a big surprise. There's been open speculation for some time that Dorna has been quietly placed on the market by current owner Bridgepoint Capital, while Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta hasn’t exactly been silent on the prospect of a sale in the coming months.
"The signs are always there," Ezpeleta told Italian newspaper Repubblica when asked about the prospect of a sale in December. "I confirm the rumours, but I would like to know who is spreading them.
Also because every day I receive two or three phone calls from credit institutions: they ask me if it is true that we are for sale. But the banks don't want to buy, no: they present themselves as intermediaries in the operation.
"I can only say one thing: we are ready."
There are other hints about the way that the business has quietly restructured financially in recent years that also suggests Bridgepoint has been preparing for a sale. The company has taken on substantial debt in the form of loans to pay out dividends to the currency owners - a standard business tactic ahead of a potential sale.
It’s also backed up by an industry opinion that says MotoGP is something of an undervalued property, especially compared to the way in which Liberty has turned F1 into a massively profitable venture in the years since its takeover, which has included an aggressive expansion strategy and the huge success of Netflix documentary Drive to Survive.
Dorna is currently 39% owned by investment fund Bridgepoint, with Canadian public pension fund CPPIB owning a further 31% (sold to it by Bridgepoint in 2012) and the Ezpeleta family the majority owners of a further 20% of the business held by a collection of current and former employees.
But given the very manner in which Bridgepoint acquired Dorna in 2006 - in a sale forced through by the EU’s competition regulator - it seems unlikely that the rumours of Liberty’s involvement stand to be anything substantially more than a sales tactic right now.
The controlling share of Dorna has been owned by Bridgepoint since then, when previous owner CVC Capital Investment was forced to sell it by the EU’s competition commissioner. That was part of the process for receiving approval for its efforts to buy the 71% stake in Formula 1 that CVC would go on to sell to Liberty in 2016.
"When the two most popular motorsport events in the EU, Formula 1 and MotoGP, come in the hands of one owner, there is a risk of price increases for the TV rights to these events and a reduction in consumer choice," competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said at the time.
"I am satisfied that the commitments given by CVC [to sell their share of Dorna] will eliminate this risk."
It’s hard to see how that position has substantially changed in the intervening years, however, especially as MotoGP and F1 have grown closer together, particularly in terms of partnerships, broadcasters and host circuits.
That doesn’t mean that there’s no smoke without fire, however. And if a sale in the coming months is being eyed up, it’s in the best interests of MotoGP’s current owners to see conversations about a potential sale being floated in the business pages as a form of soft advertising.
And, perhaps ironically, while Liberty is unlikely to be allowed to step in to take over at Dorna, there could nonetheless be familiar faces involved in any potential sale, with former owner CVC hinting around the time that it sold F1 that it was keen to retain a foothold in motorsport.
At the time that didn't involve making any inroads into a MotoGP return, but should Dorna be placed more formally on the market in the coming months CVC seems likely to be one of the parties looking closely at the series' possibilities.
MotoGP coverage moving from NBC to truTV
I dropped YTTV so I lost my GP coverage & couldn't justify the nearly double cost over F1TV to add GP VideoPass
The new MotoGP season begins this weekend with the Qatar Grand Prix, as Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia embarks on a campaign to defend his title for a second time.
America is a major market for MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports, with it welcoming former NBA chief Dan Rossomondo as chief commercial officer last year.
In 2024, MotoGP will also feature an American-owned team on the grid, with Trackhouse Racing expanding its NASCAR operation to compete as Aprilia's satellite squad with Miguel Oliveira.
As MotoGP pushes to gain a further foothold in the United States, it announced on Thursday afternoon that it has partnered with TNT Sports – part of Warner Bros Discovery - to broadcast the entire 2024 season across the country.
In a statement released by MotoGP, it says "truTV and Max's B/R Sports Add-On will show every race of this record-breaking MotoGP season live, including top quality pre-race coverage.
"Max's B/R Sports Add-On will also stream every session for every grand prix class across all three days of track activity, including the MotoGP qualifying shootout and the grand prix races for Moto2 and Moto3."
A big shock with the announcing team changing. The English language feed has been pretty consistent since I've watched back in the early 90s. And now they've changed it completely.
A big shock with the announcing team changing. The English language feed has been pretty consistent since I've watched back in the early 90s. And now they've changed it completely.
What did they change? What channel are you watching it on?
Don't watch on TV anymore. I've been watching on-line at MotoGP.com since around 2011.
The US broadcast changed from CNBC (NBC Sports) to TruTV (TNT Sports) this year. Overall, the coverage is now much more extensive. Last year, there was no showing of the sprint races, but TruTV is showing them all this year. Not sure what feed NBC used, but I've been watching the US broadcasts since around 1990, and the commentators were always consistent (one of them finally retired a few years ago). But this year, there's been a wholesale change.
On the topic of the US broadcasts, it's getting sadder in terms of reach. We went from ESPN, to NBC Sports/ NBC / CBS, to Bein, to CNBC, to TruTV. The broadcast channel is getting more and more obscure. No more US riders? But we still have the USGP.
Marc Marquez’s Qatar confession: “I gave up because I saw the chance to crash”
I'm curious as to how much advanatge the factory Ducati's have over the satellit teams in 2024, I'm just getting back into watching MotoGP and the Marquez/Ducati combo is interesting.
We dropped YTTV, so I also lost GP coverage.
GP VideoPass is more $ than F1TV
I checked my credit card statement. I paid $152.28 for the Moto GP Video Pass, and $76.04 for the World Superbike version. I watch Moto 3, Moto 2, and Moto E in addition to Moto GP, at least when they race at European tracks where Moto E participates.
Yeah, well, we dropped cable. Pretty much only had it for ESPN for F1, and GP was a bonus, even if it was only coverage for the Sunday race.
F1 TV has been great. Rewatching from 1970, I'm up to Monaco 1983. Just have a race on in the background while working.
Liberty Media has reached an agreement to take over the commercial rights to the MotoGP series, adding it to its ownership of Formula 1 within its racing portfolio.
The global motorcycle racing series is promoted by Dorna Sports, S.L. (Dorna), with Liberty acquiring the commercial rights holder from Bridgepoint and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The deal represents enterprise value of $4.5billion (€4.2bn), as Liberty will acquire 86 percent of MotoGP, with MotoGP management retaining approximately 14 percent. The deal will see MotoGP added to Liberty’s Formula One Group tracking stock.
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The global motorcycle racing series is promoted by Dorna Sports, S.L. (Dorna), with Liberty acquiring the commercial rights holder from Bridgepoint and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The deal represents enterprise value of $4.5billion (€4.2bn), as Liberty will acquire 86 percent of MotoGP, with MotoGP management retaining approximately 14 percent. The deal will see MotoGP added to Liberty’s Formula One Group tracking stock.
Not a fan of this. Liberty has butcherd F1 since taking over. Hope MotoGP isn't going down the same route.
If you missed the Moto 2 race, then you missed American Joe Roberts finishing second at COTA. The speculation is that Trackhouse Racing would like Joe to move up to Moto GP, so they have an American on the team. We'll see how he does this year.
Too bad MM93 crashed out of the race. He did well finishing 2nd in the sprint on Saturday. I cannot believe that Acosta is beating Binder and Miller. I didn't think he would come up to speed so fast. He is very impressive so far.
01-26-2024, 08:39 PM
But we still have the USGP.
