The salaries of MotoGP riders are never officially disclosed, but according to international press rumors, the highest paid last year was Marc Márquez, pocketing 16 million dollars – followed by Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo with five million dollars.
What is certain is that the times of (even more) millionaire salaries are long gone, as Jorge Lorenzo explained on the Tengo un Plan podcast: ‘Except for Márquez, now we don’t earn what we used to earn during the last ten to fifteen years. [Valentino] Rossi, [Dani] Pedrosa, Márquez, [Casey] Stoner and maybe I managed to sign very good and millionaire contracts. Now they pay less’.
The rider from Palma de Mallorca believes that the pandemic contributed to the salary reduction of the riders: ‘They pay less because of Covid-19, because the factories took advantage to lower salaries by half. Ducati, for example, only bet on young riders who wanted to prove themselves, not on established riders. I was the last established rider, the only galactic rider they hired. Then there is also the issue that races are not broadcast on free-to-air TV, so fewer people watch and it is less interesting for sponsors and manufacturers’.
