Cost cuts announced for MotoGP
Added on Thursday, February 19th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Cost cuts announced for MotoGP
MotoGP bosses have announced a number of cost cutting measures for the 2009 season which they hope will see the sport through the global economic recession.
Following the lead of other sports, most notably F1, and in reaction to Kawasaki’s decision to pull out of the championship as a cost cutting measure, championship promoters Dorna, as well as several team bosses, have stressed a need to reduce operating costs to keep the sport alive.
This season it was reported that Kawasaki were facing a bill of $46m (£32m) before their decision to pull out – of which only $3m was due to the salaries of riders Marco Melandri and John Hopkins, due to a sponsorship agreement with Monster Energy.
Both maintenance and overall running costs will be cut back drastically by a series of measures introduced following a meeting with the FIM and team bosses in Geneva yesterday, with restrictions on engine parts, pre-race practice and development testing all being introduced.
A reduction in track time during a grand prix weekend is perhaps the most notable change for spectators, with limitations on post-race tests and the scrapping of the Friday morning free practice.
The remaining practice sessions, including qualifying, will be reduced by 15 minutes to just 45 minutes. Race-day track times will remain unaffected. Post race testing will be allowed on just two occasions, after Catalunya (June 14) and Czech GP (August 16) but even then, only test riders will be permitted.
Further changes will affect the bikes themselves, with only five engines being permitted for the final eight rounds of the season, starting with the Czech Grand Prix. Ceramic composite materials in the breaking systems, launch control and electronic controlled suspension have all been banned.
