MotoGP insists feeder classes won’t become like F1’s under Liberty ownership

Formula 1 owner Liberty Media announced earlier this week that it had acquired majority ownership of Dorna Sports and MotoGP in a €4.2billion deal.

The news of Liberty’s takeover has led to much speculation over the direction MotoGP will move in over the next few years and how much of it will be modelled upon F1.

One area where F1 and MotoGP currently differ is in its feeder classes.

While Moto2 and Moto3 are considered world championships in their own right and feature on every MotoGP weekend, Formula 2 and Formula 3 have differing schedules.

The F2 and F3 paddocks are also separate from F1 and are managed independently from the latter.

Speaking to Autosport’s Spanish language MotoGP podcast ‘Por Orejas’, Ezpeleta says Moto2 and Moto3’s standing on grand prix events won’t change in the coming years because those “riders have an important relevance in what is the weekend”.

“It’s not something we see and the reality is that, although there is a lot of rumour, which I don’t really know where it comes from, the Moto2 and Moto3 teams at the moment are happy to be part of all the world championship events,” Ezpeleta said when asked if Moto2 and Moto3 races could be kept off the MotoGP bill at some events like F2 and F3.

“It’s something that for us is super important for all parties.

“To build an event that on Sunday has so many races of such a good level, what you really see with Moto2 and Moto3 is that the riders have an important relevance in what is the weekend, the fans know them and I think there is no other races or support championships in any other motorsport distribution where there is really that, where Pedro Acosta is a phenomenon from Moto3 and Moto2 and people ask him for autographs.

“They are an intrinsic part of the championship.”

Liberty Media has already said it has “no plans” to alter anything on the sporting side of MotoGP.

Earlier this week, MotoGP’s governing body the FIM offered its public support for Liberty’s takeover of the series.

Additional reporting by Germán Garcia Casanova

Watch: MotoGP’s €4.2 Billion Take Over by Liberty Media – Explained