{"id":184962,"date":"2012-10-10T08:30:25","date_gmt":"2012-10-10T07:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/opinion\/if-i-was-king-of-motogp-and-wsb\/"},"modified":"2019-09-19T08:30:22","modified_gmt":"2019-09-19T07:30:22","slug":"if-i-was-king-motogp-and-wsb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/articles\/motorcycles\/motogp\/if-i-was-king-motogp-and-wsb\/","title":{"rendered":"If I was king of MotoGP and WSB…"},"content":{"rendered":"
Bridgepoint\u2019s announcement that MotoGP and World Superbike are to be run by the same company is the most significant happening in motorcycle racing since WSB\u2019s launch a quarter of a century ago.<\/p>\n
Dorna will now run both championships, which will allow them to arrange technical rules, race calendars and so on to the benefit of both. In theory, at least.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n It is a huge deal from a commercial perspective that is likely to have a major impact on fans, for better or worse. I am hopeful, even though monopolies are not a good thing and even though I\u2019m not keen on many changes that Dorna have made over the years.<\/p>\n Whatever happens, I believe it had to be done. You cannot have two struggling championships jockeying for position and expect either to come out of it well.<\/p>\n Dorna will certainly strengthen MotoGP\u2019s position as the premier championship, but that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean bad news for WSB, which has always been the number two championship in terms of fan base, media profile and money. It is possible for each series to retain its position and still grow.<\/p>\n Inevitably, there are already rumours that the two will ultimately be merged into one. I\u2019ve always wondered whether motorcycling is big enough to sustain MotoGP and WSB. The size of the grids in both championships would suggest that it isn\u2019t. WSB\u2019s struggles haven\u2019t made headlines like MotoGP\u2019s woes, but the series is seriously underfunded, with many private teams barely able to stay in business and no more bikes on the grid than MotoGP. Might a combined championship be the best thing we\u2019ve ever seen? Think about it: all the factories, all the riders, distilled into one title race.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n We live in a time of great change, with the current economic climate the reason \u2013 or excuse \u2013 for all kinds of new rules and regulations, both in real life and in sport. Dorna have forged ahead with their moves to make MotoGP more affordable. Inevitably, this means making it slower. Now that they run WSB as well, they can move WSB rules in the same direction. If Dorna make the right moves, both championships will have bigger grids. It\u2019s not impossible.<\/p>\n The factories, of course, have been left reeling by Bridgepoint\u2019s announcement because it strips them of pretty much all their power. They used to effectively run GP racing; now they have very little leverage. HRC\u2019s threat to defect from MotoGP to WSB (first revealed here at the end of August) now means little or nothing, because Dorna are now in charge of both championships.<\/p>\n Honda only made their threat because a few months ago WSB made it clear they were happy for the factories to continue electronics R&D. This was a classic case of corporate competition making a mess of things. Had both championships continued to belong to competing companies, then we might have ended up with the ridiculous situation of MotoGP running a control ECU while WSB allowed unlimited electronics technology. Now electronics regulations and other technical rules can be coordinated to maintain a gap between the two categories.<\/p>\n The problem for MotoGP \u2013 and any prototype class like Formula 1 \u2013 is that there is now more technology available than we can afford. Given an open budget, there is no real limit to how much can be spent making a bike or car go round a racetrack as fast as possible.<\/p>\n