Dorna keeps pretty tight controls on what information gets out about its business; but when dealing with public entities, some of those figures are bound to come forth. Such is the case with Motorland Aragon, the Spanish track that recently locked in MotoGP through the 2016 season. The cost of hosting MotoGP for the next six years? €41 million. That figure breaks down into €6 million for the 2011 round, €7 million for the 2012 season and subsequent years as well.
The planets must have aligned oddly in the past 24hrs, as there has been an over-abundance of news about motorcycle racing venues in the past day or so. In addition to the reports that Donington Park has gotten the go-ahead to host the WSBK European round at the end of this month, we’ve also gotten word that the Spanish track of Jerez has hit financial troubles, which could jeopardize the track on MotoGP’s calendar.
A contrast to that latter report, Dorna and Motorland Aragon (you know, that other Spanish track) have announced that Aragon will remain a permanent stop on the GP calendar through the year 2016. While MotoGP fans aren’t likely keen on hearing that Spain will account for nearly 25% of the stops on the GP calendar, the 2010 Aragon GP was immensely popular last year, attracting 70,000 spectators to the otherwise remote location.
For kids too old for Santa, the beginning of racing season often brings about more excitement than a jolly man delivering presents. Winter testing often fills the gap for race fans. A long season of private and series-sponsored tests for World Superbikes get underway beginning next week, stretching until just days before the season opener at Phillip Island on February 27th.
The Kawasaki factory team and and satellite Team Pedercini get the season started off with their test, this coming Monday, January 10th through 14th, at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia, while Liberty Racing Ducati will be riding around at Guadix, Spain on Tuesday and Wednesday. Ten Kate will be at Motorland Aragon, which was highly praised at its MotoGP inaugural round last season, two weeks from now on January 20th and 21st.
You may remember Motorland Aragon as the fourth Spanish-based track that was added to the MotoGP schedule after the Hungarian GP was canceled for a second time in two years. Set to play host to MotoGP on September 19th of this year, the Spanish track has also just gotten the nod to host World Superbike with its premiere facilities. However WSBK is taking a different tack from MotoGP, and instead of running two Spanish stops, Motorland Aragon will replace Valencia on the World Superbike calendar for 2011 (and on through 2013).
For those following the construction of the Balatonring in Hungary, the news that the Hungarian GP has been officially cancelled by Dorna and the FIM should be of little surprise. After having a myriad of problems, especially finding funding, the Hungarian track was a dealt a death blow this Monday when the Hungarian Development Bank declined to underwrite a loan for the track. With no money in sight, Dorna and the FIM had no choice but to officially cancel the venue, and implement Plan B, which sees MotoGP stopping at four, yes four tracks in Spain for 2010. Read more after the jump.