MotoGP has prepared a calendar with 22 Grands Prix for 2024, and this extensive schedule will be followed almost to the letter. Despite the cancellation of the Argentine, Kazakhstan, and Indian GPs, there will only be two fewer races: to replace the Kazakhstan GP, the Emilia-Romagna GP was added as a second round in Misano.
The extended calendar is considerable and exhausting, making it difficult for teams to manage. Massimo Rivola, Aprilia’s CEO, stated, as quoted by MotoSprint.it: ‘I have to say we suffer with the calendar. I can certainly imagine that Dorna had sponsorship agreements for a minimum of 20 races and there had to be 20. Being in Misano twice in a row doesn’t thrill us, also because I don’t know how many people will return. On television, it’s still a MotoGP race, so it might work’.
The Executive also noted that the weather could bring very different conditions for each Misano round, as they are two weeks apart: ‘Obviously, logistically for us in Italy, it’s not bad. It’s a shame we can’t perhaps do it a week after the other because in September, with this crazy weather, maybe the first one will be hot, and the second one will already be cold’.
The Emilia-Romagna GP of MotoGP is scheduled from September 20 to 22, coinciding with the World Superbike in Misano. Rivola lamented this overlap: ‘It’s a shame because we stay in Italy, and there’s the coincidence of the first Superbike race in Cremona. Well, the audience might be a bit different, but it’s obviously an overlap’.
According to the Italian, there is nothing the teams can do against the size and composition of the calendar: ‘Unfortunately, the calendar is completely in the hands of Dorna. What we want as manufacturers is to compete in places where there is an attraction for motorcycles, and Indonesia is fine. We hope to return to India, it is certain to continue with Japan due to history and the presence of manufacturers. It will be right to go more to America because Formula 1 is teaching us that when we go there, they then drag the rest. I hope a solution is found as soon as possible’.