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While Dorna is continuing its negotiations to restart the world championship in Jerez, at the end of July, with two races on the same circuit in two separate weekends, there are others who are still counting on keeping their date on the calendar.
We are obviously talking about the Misano circuit, which was supposed to host the 12th round of the world championship on the Romagna Riviera and could instead find itself holding the fifth round, after the brace of races at Jerez, then Brno and the Red Bull Ring.
Misano will actually start its activity much earlier: next week even, on May 14, with the reopening of the circuit to riders of national interest. Valentino Rossi and the guys from VR46 are already preparing for it.
"By accepting also the FMI and ACI sporting protocols, we will do a simulation to prepare for next week,” said Andrea Albani, director of Misano, who continued “We will have to see how the situation will evolve, if things will be opened up to everyone, if licensed riders from all the other regions can come. There is nothing certain at the moment. In the meantime, we will try to do a dry run behind closed doors, so we can also see how these protocols will be managed because they are complex".
It's a sort of rehearsal for the Misano GP then…
“We are talking about that with Dorna. At the moment the dates are still the same: 13 September for MotoGP and the first weekend of November for Superbike. At the moment there is nothing more on paper, but we are talking. A brace of races for us as well? If we were asked for our availability, we would grant it, but we would have to study the costs. We spoke about it with Paolo Poli, the director of Mugello, because hosting a world championship has significant costs. You cannot do a Grand Prix of this type without being at the top. Misano has already had a colour marketing project since last year, then there is the issue of safety that must be taken for granted ".
Can you explain this better please?
“Normally we involve about 1,000 people in a Grand Prix, if we remove the people linked to spectator services, we go down to at least 600, of which 300 are the race officials. But there are also about sixty people to be added to the medical service. Then we will have to think about the accreditation centre which will have to be transformed into a sort of ‘triage centre’ which, if we take Dorna's figures for good, will have to be able to welcome about 1,300 people. There are a lot of costs involved".
What sort of figures are we talking about?
"Right now I would struggle to give a number, it will still be an important sum."
Who will be required to cover this?
“We are working on it, trying to understand the costs and discussing with the promoters: San Marino, the Riviera of Rimini, the Municipalities, the Province of Rimini and the Emilia-Romagna Region. Meanwhile, of course, we will not have to pay the contractual cost. There is an open table to find a solution to be submitted to Dorna. We spoke to Ezpeleta last week and he is waiting for our ideas. Right now we have a race then we'll see what will emerge. "
The return of MotoGP to Misano would still be an advertising spot to be used to promote tourism…
“Of course, even behind closed doors an event of this type, with international television coverage and with an instrument like MotoGP, can convey important contents for relaunching tourism. For the future it is a great opportunity, it will then be a matter of building a promotional project alongside it for the territory, which is a great tourist destination. In short, relaunching it in September for the future”.
With all that has gone before, what is the possibility of holding a double race?
“In the meantime, let’s just get one Grand Prix over and done with. I can't answer this question today. We will make a release later to be a clearer on this matter. We are really working on it to see how we can make everyone happy, as a sign of sustainability ".
The Marco Simoncelli circuit has its own beautiful graphic identity…
"We start from a project that offers the complete colouring of the circuit, 12 run-off areas, with over 20,000 square meters completely coloured that tell the story of the Riders’ Land. There are the liveries of the riders and also the colours of our territory, that of the flags of San Marino and Rimini. Everything will have to be restored, and it is an important cost. Then, it goes without saying, together with the promoters, we will make the most of the opportunity of the Grand Prix as a boost, there will be messages in favour of a return to normality and the desire to take a holiday".
