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<\/p>\nMotoGP\u2019s payments to manufacturers and teams are tiny by comparison. Factory teams get around \u00a31.75 million, plus contributions to freight and other costs, while independent teams receive more than twice that, because Dorna recognises the fact that indie outfits need more support, because they don\u2019t have manufacturers providing their budgets.<\/p>\n
No surprise that the MSMA wants a big pay rise from next year, recognising their vital contribution to the championship. They want Liberty to use the F1 profit-sharing system in MotoGP, with the 11 teams receiving around half of the championship\u2019s annual profits.<\/p>\n
Currently, MotoGP makes around \u00a3210 million in profit, so the teams are chasing around \u00a39.5 million per team.<\/p>\n
These numbers are the main battleground between the MSMA and Liberty, which wants to pay all teams (from next year, there will be no distinction between factory and indie outfits) a set annual fee of around \u00a37 million each.<\/p>\n
How nasty will this battle become and who will win?<\/p>\n
Liberty is a huge operation, worth roughly 10 times the market value of Ducati. And Liberty management is happy to play rough. After all, Liberty exists to make money for its executives and shareholders, not to keep stakeholders happy. This is proven by the conglomerate\u2019s operations in the music industry, through its subsidiaries Live Nation and Ticketmaster.<\/p>\n
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Marco Bezzecchi leads in Brazil \u2013 MotoGP is a growing show, so the manufacturers and riders need to make sure they benefit<\/p>\n
\n Michelin\n <\/p>\n
Last month, a federal jury in New York found that Live Nation had illegally monopolised the USA\u2019s live music industry, violating anti-monopoly laws and overcharging consumers<\/p>\n
MotoGP\u2019s manufacturers know they need to win this battle, because if they don\u2019t get Liberty bosses to agree to profit-sharing now, when will they?<\/p>\n
The MSMA has lots of power in this confrontation, because without the manufacturers, there is no racing.<\/p>\n
In fact, while that\u2019s true in theory, it\u2019s not strictly true. The last time the championship\u2019s owner fought with the manufacturers was a little over a decade ago, when Dorna wanted to introduce spec electronics software, ending the manufacturers\u2019 ability to create their own software, an important part of research and development.<\/p>\n
Honda<\/a> was so against spec software that it threatened to withdraw its machines from MotoGP. Dorna\u2019s answer was to threaten replacing prototype machinery with lower-cost CRT bikes, which had been introduced to help fill the grid following the global financial crisis of 2008. CRT bikes use tuned street engines taken from superbikes, so they are much, much cheaper than prototype engines developed specifically for MotoGP.<\/p>\n I think it\u2019s good that the manufacturers are fighting for their rights to a fair share of MotoGP profits. But what about the riders and their rights?<\/p>\n Why safety can\u2019t wait<\/p>\n The manufacturers have the MSMA to represent their interests, the teams (especially those in Moto2 and Moto3) have IRTA to represent them, but the riders (incredibly!) have no one looking after them, even though they are the ones in the real firing line.<\/p>\n Riders do get to air their grievances during safety commission meetings held at each Grand Prix, but they\u2019ve not managed to organise themselves into a union that can fight for their rights.<\/p>\n This is despite plenty of unease in recent years, from the number of races to the introduction of sprint races to safety concerns at various circuits and dangerous technical realities, like the air-stop issue, which has riders struggling to stop when they\u2019re behind another bike, due to aero wake.<\/p>\n Sprint races were introduced in 2023, when, for the first time in history, not one grand prix race started with a full grid, because so many riders were getting injured due to the sprint format.<\/p>\n The MotoGP grid during the playing of the national anthem on the Brazilian GP grid<\/p>\n \n Michelin\n <\/p>\n The major risk points of a race weekend are qualifying and the first corner. Before sprints were introduced, riders faced two big risk points per weekend: qualifying on Saturday and the race start on Sunday. Now they have twice as many: pre-qualifying on Friday afternoon, once or twice in qualifying (Q1 and maybe Q1), the sprint start and the Grand Prix start.<\/p>\n Over the decades, Dorna has done a mostly great job on safety, but there is always room for improvement. Last year, several riders raised their concerns over Balaton Park, the new Hungarian venue, which features several iffy corners.<\/p>\n During the first lap of the Sunday race at Balaton, Enea Bastianini<\/a> crashed entering the Turn 12\/13 chicane, which riders had already complained about, because they knew that if they fell at the Turn 12 left-hander, they would most likely slide back onto the track at Turn 13.<\/p>\n This is exactly what happened. Bastianini fell at Turn 12 and knew where he was going \u2013 straight into the path of the oncoming pack at 13. It was a terrifying moment, the Italian desperately looking over his shoulder, fully aware he was in the lap of the gods.<\/p>\n Finally, Pedro Acosta<\/a> and Luca Marini<\/a> missed him by centimetres, but make no mistake, this is how riders can die. Indeed, this is the cause of most recent deaths \u2013 the racing is so close nowadays that when a rider falls, he can be hit by the chasing pack.<\/p>\n Most riders don\u2019t want to talk to the media about safety \u2013 it\u2019s almost like they\u2019ve been muzzled by the championship\u2019s owners.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/55162452551_d8c9f1ba70_o-800x450.jpg\"\/)
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![\"Marc](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DS_06286-800x450.jpg\"\/)
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