Dorna Boss Carmelo Ezpeleta’s Plan For MotoGP Restart

The show must go on. Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta knows this well. Since his return from Qatar on March 9, where only the Moto2 and Moto3 classes competed, he has worked day and night to restart the MotoGP championship. His living room in his house in Madrid is the new Dorna headquarters, the operation room that shaped the new MotoGP format.

We guess you never stopped working.

I’m working more than before. My home office is open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. I try to have a daily routine which includes some physical exercise and the exercise bike. I spend the rest of the day on the phone with team principals, riders, constructors, and the promoters. I’m at home with my wife Maria, while Carlos and Maria (his son and daughter who also work in Dorna) have their own place.

Has the pandemic been the most difficult time since you began running MotoGP?

From an economic point of view, this is the most critical time since I’m in Dorna in 1991. But this is something that we can do. It’s different when we have some tragic incidents on track. From a personal point of view, these are the most difficult moments because as a man you feel helpless.

When will the final 2020 calendar be official?

Within the end of this week we should receive the approval from the Spanish government to start the championship on July 19 in Jerez. We are waiting, but I’m confident. This week we are also finalizing the sanitary protocol that we will present to the Spanish Sports Council and also the authorities of the different countries.

What does the 2020 calendar look like?

The idea is to compete behind closed doors in Europe, starting with Jerez, Spain, on July 19 and 26, then Brno, Czech Republic, on August 9, Austria on August 16 and 23, then Misano, Italy, on September 13. We plan to race in Europe from the end of July until November.

What about the overseas races?

We are speaking with the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, with the Sepang Circuit, Argentina or Thailand, but we will be able to confirm them only at the beginning of September. We don’t have so much margin of maneuvering because these rounds will have to take place between the middle of November and the middle of December.

It will be possible to organize an extra race only if spectators are allowed, because we need to cover the logistics and the shipping costs of personnel and material. The European rounds, on the contrary, will be behind closed doors so the promoter won’t pay the fee. In the worst case, if it’s not possible to travel outside of Europe, we’ll keep a championship of least 10 to 12 races between the end of July and the end of November. We agreed with the manufacturers that the championship must end by December 13, so that they can start preparing the 2021 season.

What about the sanitary protocol?

It will be official by the end of this week. According to the current situation, we have taken all the safety measures to grant the running of the event. We started by defining a limited number of people working in the paddock. We talked to the teams and arrived at a consensus that the maximum number for a MotoGP manufacturer team will be 40, for satellite teams will be 25, 20 for Moto2, and 15 for Moto3. No guests, no media will be allowed but there will be the TV production and the minimum number of people from Dorna who are in charge of the race organization. This will give us an average of around 1,300 people. This is a possibility to control the MotoGP family. As for the logistics, personnel coming from outside Europe will have to arrive 14 days prior to the race weekend. All personnel will have to do the test a maximum of four days before the arrival to the circuit.

What will happen if a team member tests positive for coronavirus in the paddock?

We contemplate the possibility to continue, but we have to look at the different cases described in the sanitary protocol.

There have been very few cases of COVID-19 in the MotoGP community.

The most important thing is to try to keep the situation under control. We are very busy but happy because there have been very few cases of coronavirus in the MotoGP family and all of them, so far, have been resolved well. This is the most important thing.

Have you had the chance to speak with the riders?

I talked a lot with them. They wanted to be reassured. They all want to start as soon as possible.

And the teams?

The lesson I learned from this difficult time is that the MotoGP family is very united also from a human point of view. I was in constant contact with the team principals, the representatives of the constructors, the promoters, and the FIM (International Motorcycle Federation). We all want to restart.

After the sanitary emergency, the teams will have to deal with the economic crisis.

We won’t leave the teams alone. We supported them financially during the pandemic, and we studied some important measures to reduce the costs. The Moto2 and Moto3 classes will be able to use the same machines for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. We agreed to freeze the development of the engine and the aerodynamics for the MotoGP class in 2020 and 2021.

Have you thought about a budget cap like in Formula One?

We are thinking about a more sustainable MotoGP format, but we will work on the “new MotoGP” once the 2020 season will start. This is the absolute priority at the moment.

Looking at the riders’ market, the MotoGP paddock is waiting for Valentino Rossi’s decision to continue to race in 2021 or to retire. Are you prepared for the post-Valentino era?

I often speak with Valentino, but never about his retirement. I find this extremely disrespectful—in general, but especially with a nine-time world champion who is fighting for the win. Rossi has done some incredible seasons and he can still win. The decision to continue or to retire is up to him, not to us. Of course, if Valentino could continue until he is 70 years old, I will be more than happy!

Do you have a message for the MotoGP fans?

My message is that MotoGP is a fantastic show. We’ll be sure to come back and we’ll be back stronger from this situation. We’re not working just on 2020 but on 2021 and beyond and we’re trying to maintain the races, which is the most important thing. Unfortunately, this year it will be difficult to have spectators at the races, but we will have our fantastic television coverage which will permit the majority of people to watch the races.