Some of you may not be aware or you may already be aware that the 2023 MotoGP calendar is very busy. With 21 Grand Prix already firmly scheduled, that means there are 42 races for the riders to do, including an additional sprint race aka sprint races.
Not quite there, Dorna Sports is already planning to increase it to 22 series which they think is the ideal number for now.
Finally, the current MotoGP calendar has received strong protests from riders, crews, and manufacturers participating in the championship.
One form of criticism came from the big boss of Pierer Mobility AG, which houses KTM, Gasgas and Husqvarna, Stefan Pierer, who was supported by other KTM officials.
As quoted from GridOto.com, "I made it clear to Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta during the Valencia MotoGP that the constructors only want 18 series," Pierer said.
According to KTM, the number of series can be circumvented by removing some series that are still in the same country such as Spain or Italy.
The addition of a series in Kazakhstan also infuriated KTM as it made no sense in terms of the market.
Kazakhstan's willingness to fill time in the middle of the season made Dorna Sports tempted to include it in the calendar.
"Because if there is no race at the Sokol Circuit (Kazakhstan), there will be a five-week break like in 2022 when the Finnish GP was canceled. We can't accept missing races for that long," said Ezpeleta.
Dorna Sports also has another handle on why it is desperate to hold many series that clearly make many people burn their beards.
"The situation is that we are competing with other sports and we have to adjust when creating the GP calendar," Ezpeleta said.
"The extra races make us start the season earlier and finish later than before Covid-19 when we were still with only 19 races," he explained.
Ezpeleta does not deny that money is the main reason for the existence of many of these series.
That's because Dorna Sports has lost a lot over the past three years during the Covid-19 era.
Races in the European region have also been unprofitable from a business perspective in recent editions.
"We lose money when racing in Europe, so this must be taken to heart by teams and manufacturers. Personally, I can be satisfied with just 15 races but we have to widen the season, because MotoGP interest is increasing, even Saudi Arabia also wants MotoGP," he continued.
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