{"id":408349,"date":"2026-01-12T13:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T13:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/408349\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T13:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T13:29:08","slug":"unique-f1-circuit-was-evaluated-for-a-motogp-race-claims-insider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/408349\/","title":{"rendered":"Unique F1 circuit was evaluated for a MotoGP race, claims insider"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former FIM safety officer Franco Uncini has revealed that a delegation from Dorna visited the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi to evaluate it for a potential MotoGP race.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/f1\/news\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Formula 1<\/a> staged its first race in Abu Dhabi in 2009, with the island venue becoming the first ever twilight grand prix.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, it has marked itself out as the traditional season-closing event on the F1 calendar, with numerous world titles decided there.<\/p>\n<p>It is a track that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/motogp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MotoGP<\/a> evaluated \u201cyears ago\u201d as a potential destination, with a delegation finding \u201ca possible solution\u201d to improving the safety of the circuit around some of the tighter sections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYears ago, we visited the Abu Dhabi circuit, because Dorna wanted to hold a GP there,\u201d Franco Uncini told GPOne.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring the inspection, which Carmelo Ezpeleta, myself and four riders from the Safety Commission attended, we found a possible solution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBack then, the FIA was on one side and the FIM on the other.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI worked hard to bring the two federations together, but the car world wasn\u2019t ready to make certain concessions for motorcycles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, it\u2019s easier to organise certain things because Formula 1 and MotoGP are owned by the same entity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The prospect of MotoGP racing at a street venue <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/motogp\/news\/1087346\/1\/motogp-boss-makes-surprise-street-circuit-claim-there-are-f1-tracks-we-can\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">was raised by Carmelo Ezpeleta last year <\/a>during a visit to the Las Vegas Grand Prix.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>However, Liberty Media\u2019s ownership of both F1 and MotoGP wouldn\u2019t overrule the homologation process on circuits, which the FIA carries out for the former, and the FIM for the latter.<\/p>\n<p>Uncini added: \u201cWalls are a problem if there are no run-off areas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut these could be created if the layout allows it. Walls on straights are not a problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be spectacular to see MotoGP in such a setting, but Abu Dhabi would need adequate run-off areas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBack then, the FIA didn&#8217;t want to adapt it, not even partially.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe didn&#8217;t ask to build gravel traps everywhere, maybe one-third asphalt and two-thirds gravel. It wasn&#8217;t possible then, but why not now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to our MotoGP Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former FIM safety officer Franco Uncini has revealed that a delegation from Dorna visited the Yas Marina circuit&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,5745,85,169580],"class_list":{"0":"post-408349","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-motogp","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-yas-marina-circuit"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}