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On Friday at Assen, Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna, was the protagonist of our exclusive interview (you can see it above) in which he spoke about the future of motorcycle racing, MotoGP and Superbike. With the arrival of the new technical regulations for 2027 in MotoGP, changes are therefore also expected for the Superbike championship, which the Spanish CEO assured will remain under the aegis of Dorna while maintaining its parallel and separate management.
So many events in the past few days, both in terms of the rider market and beyond, with Pramac's move to Yamaha. Is this something you have favored in any way? How do you see these developments?
"I can't say I favored them," Ezpeleta began , "although obviously I was aware of the ongoing negotiations. It' s clear that I think it's positive news for the championship that Yamaha got more bikes to work with and do well."
However, there are also those who have criticized this rush in developments; we are only a third of the way through the championship.
"I disagree, the less regulation we have the better. It's good that the parties are free to decide, to put limits would only hide these decisions to announce them later. Things come when they come, and if the parties agree I don't see what the problem is with saying things when they see fit."
It has been a few months since the acquisition of Liberty Media. What has changed?
"At the moment nothing yet, until the regulator of the acquisition gives the okay, we cannot yet proceed."
In Misano there were also rumors among managers and journalists about the possibility of Superbike being spun off from Dorna and the women's world championship being hosted by MotoGP.
"I think managers need to do their job better, because it's a complete lie. There is no indication or any interest in it. When the rumor first came to me I was surprised myself, but there is absolutely no truth to this possibility. Superbike and MotoGP will continue under one roof. As for the women's championship, we are happy with the way it started irrespective of the incident, and the idea is to continue in parallel with the Superbike championship."
In the past, this was not always the case; at one time there was a 'war' with Flammini.
"With Maurizio we have been friends for many years, the truth is that he ran SBK the way he thought he should run it. The difference is that in the beginning he owned 100 percent of Superbike but it was not the championship of now, those bikes were prototypes. There has to be a difference between prototypes and production-derived bikes. To be honest, if Superbike was not with us the way it is now it would be difficult to continue, that is what I think. Running two championships allows you to support the weaker one, which right now is SBK, and it is better to keep them separate because if we made them in competition with each other it would not bring more spectators to MotoGP. So this issue also applies to the other championships, being under the same umbrella is a help for the weaker competitions."
Dorna runs many other championships, MotoE, the fledgling women's championship, the CEV now turned world championship. Some might call this an abuse of a dominant position.
"Not so, when we acquired the rights to the World Championship in 1992, at that time it was the only speed championship, as in motocross which has a single promoter, while the Superbike championship came later. With the FIM we have an agreement to manage speed championships on permanent circuits, with the only goal of developing one discipline."
With the new technical regulations for 2027 you have changed MotoGP, isn't there a risk of it getting too close to Superbike? Will you change the regulations there as well?
"Definitely, they have to be adapted. With the FIM president we are of the same view. Superbikes will have to be closer and closer to production bikes, as was intended from the beginning. They are already talking about it in the committee, we are not in a hurry to make this decision, but a change in the regulations will be there."
Watch the interview for the other insights!
