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MotoGP, KTM to lose concessions, Honda cannot gain them: this is the situation

Thanks to the victories of Binder and Oliveira, the Austrian manufacturer will be limited in engine development from 2021, a halt on testing with the riders already this year

MotoGP: KTM to lose concessions, Honda cannot gain them: this is the situation

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KTM has finally crossed the line that separated it from the MotoGP greats and thanks to (or because of) the victories obtained by Brad Binder at Brno and Miguel Oliveira at the Red Bull Ring, it has lost the concessions reserved for those manufacturers which have not achieved significant results in recent seasons. The system is simple: a victory is worth 3 points, second place 2 and third 1, and once a total of 6 has been reached, the bonuses are removed.

KTM is now at 7 (also counting the podium of Pol Espargarò in the Styrian GP) so it no longer has the concessions. What does this mean? In the immediate future, that is, for the current season, it will no longer have the opportunity to take advantage of free tests with its race riders. So only the test riders (Dani Pedrosa and Mika Kallio for the Austrian manufacturer) will be able to take part in tests, obviously respecting the ban on organizing them in the 15 days preceding a Grand Prix on a specific track.

For 2020 there are no other changes, but in 2021 KTM will lose further benefits. The first concerns the engines available for the season, which will go down from 9 to 7 and development on which will be frozen. Furthermore, as regards the tests, it will have to indicate 3 circuits on which to carry them out with its own testers, no longer having the freedom to organize them on any track in the World Championship. Finally, the number of wildcards allowed during the year will go down from 6 to 3.

Concessions, under normal conditions, can be lost as well as gained. The regulations stipulate that if a manufacturer does not get on the podium even once during the season, it is entitled to benefit from this bonus system.

Given the current situation of Honda (still without a podium!) one could therefore imagine that in 2021 the Tokyo giant, which with Marc Marquez has dominated in recent seasons, could paradoxically gain concessions.

However, this is not a normal season and the Grand Prix Commission, which decides on regulation changes, has added a footnote for this year, in which concessions can only be lost and not gained. So even if Honda were never to get on the podium in 2020, it would continue to be subject to the usual constraints.

 

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