Catching Up with Mr. MotoGP, Carmelo Ezpeleta

Since Dorna Sports took over television rights of Grand Prix road racing in 1992, Carmelo Ezpeleta has been the great architect of big changes sweeping the championship, like the epochal switch from 500cc two-strokes to 990cc four-strokes in 2002.

Ezpeleta may be the CEO but you rarely see him in a suit and tie. He always wears a white shirt with the Dorna logo on the breast pocket. When it’s cold, he wears a leather jacket. Racing blood flows in his veins. A former amateur rally driver, he ran several circuits in Spain before joining Dorna in 1991. At that time, the company had seven employees. Now, it has around 300. Since the end of 2012, Dorna has also bought the rights for World Superbike, running the two most important road-racing championships worldwide.

I recently spoke with Ezpeleta about the present and future of MotoGP.

"We do sport and we aim at doing rules that grant an equal grid so that we can see good races and a great show. This is our philosophy and we have been through different phases like switching from 500cc to MotoGP, the reorganization of the Moto3 and Moto2 classes, and the introduction of the single-tire suppliers. Also, the policy of the TV rights has paid well and allowed us to economically support the teams. We are the sponsors of the teams that suffer more. Things are going well although there is always room for improvement."

"The fight for the 2017 MotoGP title is open and we have new faces leading the championship. The sporting side and the show are huge. The status of the championship is healthy, given by the fact that we have six manufacturers involved. KTM is progressing. Aprilia has some reliability issues but is improving. Suzuki is adjusting after Maverick Vinales switched to Yamaha and Andrea Iannone arrived. Everything shows that the rules and the changes we introduced work. For example, I find that the manufacturers that line up more than two riders are more successful and this shows that the system we suggested is good. Then, of course, we cannot force this policy on the teams. In addition, it's also a question of the market."

"When Bridgestone was the single-tire supplier, there was not so much margin of discussion. They brought the tires according to their parameters and that was it. Michelin has a different approach as they follow the riders' needs. This was also our request to Michelin: having tires that suit as many riders as possible. We were happy with Bridgestone, but we are even happier with Michelin. They are committed to providing the tires that suit each track better. This is the second year and we are going in the right direction. Yes, the tires are affecting the championship, but many times it depends from how they work with that particular bike on a specific circuit, the level of the grip, and the temperature of the asphalt."

"Valentino is Valentino. If we look at the grandstands, we see a yellow crowd. I think that when Valentino retires, many of them will continue to be MotoGP fans. But I don't want to think about this. Just look at what he is doing. It has no meaning to speak about retirement for Rossi, who just won in Assen and is third in the championship. Then, of course, speaking about the future, if Rossi would like to do a team in MotoGP, we are happy to help. But again, we didn't offer this possibility and Valentino hasn't asked. He is a rider and we would like to have him with us forever."

"We have the rights for an electric championship so we are working on a project with electric bikes as a supporting race in some European rounds of the MotoGP championship. We have been testing several bikes like the Italian Tacita T-Race or Energica to find a single supplier to start this Cup from the 2019 season. In Austin, we tested the American Lightning LS-218 and Gregorio Lavilla will test it again in Laguna Seca during the World Superbike round."

"The arrival of Triumph is a breath of fresh air for Moto2. Honda was available to continue supplying the engines but the CBR600RR is a model they are not producing anymore, so we went for a change. Moto2 is a stepping stone for the MotoGP and it's working well. Just look how the rookies are doing in MotoGP! We want to go even more in this direction. The Moto2 class will be different with the Triumph engine (three cylinders instead of four), and the chassis will be different. Plus, we will introduce a more sophisticated ECU, so that the rider can learn to do some settings. We are happy to have a new manufacturer on board. We haven't spoken if this could lead to a MotoGP project; let's start with Moto2."

"We are working on the 2018 calendar and, as usual, we will make it public around August. The new entry could be Thailand. We can grow to 19 races, no more, because there no other circuits that are ready. Austin and Laguna Seca are confirmed respectively for the MotoGP and the World Superbike. We are not planning to have more races in the US. The number of spectators at Austin is growing year after year and we are very happy."

"Wayne Rainey is doing a great job with MotoAmerica, creating a championship from zero, or below zero. He has convinced the manufacturers to come back, and MotoAmerica has reinvigorated a championship that had reached maybe the lowest level. America had an incredible school of riders who created superb pages in the Grand Prix history books. Wayne is doing well but the situation was so deteriorated that it takes time. Today [former MotoGP racer] Toni Elias is winning! This shows that the level is high and when we will have American riders beating Toni, it would mean that the level is really high."

"American kids need a hero to identify with and the examples they have with Kevin Schwantz, Kenny Roberts, or Wayne Rainey are too distant in the past. They need an icon to inspire them and also a cup where they can race. From our experience in other countries, having an American Talent Cup would be ideal. We are working on this project to start again from raising the young talents in Moto3. When I speak about an American Talent Cup, I mean from Canada to Argentina. We would like to use the existing circuits and rounds of the MotoGP and World Superbike, plus other tracks. The best talents can continue internationally, but the talent cup also fills the grids of the national championships. We are studying this project but the earliest this could happen in 2020."

"World Superbike is a championship for the production bikes. In the past, this was a championship that wanted to compete with MotoGP, but it doesn't work. You cannot compete with MotoGP. We need to go back to the original idea. The rules need to change for the 2018 season. All the manufacturers agree in the urgency of these changes.They all practically agree to adopt the rules of the Superstock 1000 to Superbike, and we are discussing the introduction of the single ECU as in MotoGP. Today, Superbikes are more prototypes than production bikes and this is not possible. We are discussing several possibilities with the manufacturers."