MotoGP is to follow in the footsteps of Formula 1 and switch to sustainable fuels.
From 2024, 40% of fuel used in the MotoGP class must be obtained from sustainable sources – either synthetically produced using sustainable energy or from non-food biomass – and from 2027, all fuel used in all three grand prix classes, Moto3, Moto2, and MotoGP, will be of non-fossil origin.
The WorldSBK Championship may have just wrapped up in Indonesia, but the series is already looking towards the future. On that vein, WorldSBK has a new “SBK” logo
As such, Dorna has debuted a brand refresh for the WorldSBK Championship, including a new, more modern-looking “SBK” logo and font, which was done by British firm Designwerk.
The Permanent Bureau, the joint body comprising the FIM and Dorna, who run short circuit motorcycle racing, have announced major steps to improve rider safety in all championships run or backed by Dorna.
Ages are to be raised, grid sizes are to be limited, and work will continue to improve rider safety equipment and rider communication.
The 2022 MotoGP calendar will feature a total of 21 races, starting in Qatar on March 6th and finishing exactly 8 months later in Valencia.
The 2022 calendar sees further expansion of the number of races, as Dorna add new circuits and new countries to the schedule.
Michelin is to remain official tire supplier to MotoGP until the end of the 2026 season. Today, Michelin and Dorna announced they had extend the contract, due to end in December 2023, through the following three seasons.
The announcement nicely lines up the spec tire contract with the end of the next period of technical rules.
Austin is back on the MotoGP calendar. Today, the FIM announced that the Motegi round of MotoGP has been canceled, as travel to Japan is still very difficult, with the Circuit of the Americas being put in its place on October 3rd.
The changes have obviously been made in response to the pandemic, and as COVID-19 continues to be a problem around the world, more changes are likely.
The satellite bike situation for the coming five-year contract period in MotoGP is starting to crystallize.
Today, KTM and Tech3 announced that the French team wil be staying inside the stable of the Austrian factory for the entire five years of the MotoGP period, from 2022 to 2026.
That Tech3 would stay with KTM was hardly a surprise: the French team won their first ever premier class race last season with Miguel Oliveira, and the team is an important part of KTM’s talent structure, which brings riders through all the way from the Red Bull Rookies to MotoGP.
But the fact that it is a five-year deal is unusual, satellite team contracts in MotoGP are usually only for two to three years.
The 2021 WorldSBK calendar has been updated once again in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After delaying the Australian round provisionally until the end of the season, the Phillip Island event has now been postponed until 2022. And a race in the Czech Republic, in Most, has been added in the middle of the calendar.
MotoGP is to get a head start on the implementation of LED flag panels for the remainder of the 2021 MotoGP season, starting with this weekend’s Portuguese GP at Portimão.
The panels, which will be made compulsory by both the FIM and FIA from 2022, are to be transported from track to track by LED panel manufacturer EM Motorsport, and used for each race.
The Moto3 race at the Doha round will live on in the collective memory of race fans for a very long time.
The fact that Pedro Acosta won the Moto3 race in Qatar at the tender age of 16 years and 314 days, becoming the eleventh youngest Grand Prix winner of all time, was remarkable enough.
The fact that it was just his second Grand Prix made it even more remarkable, especially after Acosta finished on the podium in his first race.
But what Acosta’s victory in the Qatar 2 Moto3 race will be most remembered for is the fact that the Spanish youngster won the race after starting from pit lane.
The staff and freelancers present at the MotoGP test in Qatar are to be offered the chance to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
The Qatari government has agreed to vaccinate all staff who want to receive the vaccine starting from tomorrow morning, before a large section of the paddock flies home in between the two tests.