Instead of five MotoGP races, there could be only two in the medium term – Barcelona remains a fixture, as the contract has been extended up to and including 2031
MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports and the Catalan government have extended the contract for the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The premier class of motorcycle racing will be a guest at this track up to and including 2031.
The contract has been extended by a further five years, as the existing agreement runs until 2026. There have been uninterrupted races in Barcelona since 1992. The city’s appeal also plays a role.
In the course of the contract extension, Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta also announced that the number of races on the Iberian Peninsula will be reduced in the medium term. Currently, five Grands Prix take place there – almost a quarter of the race calendar.
In Spain, in addition to Barcelona, races are also held in Jerez, Aragon and Valencia. There is also a race in Portugal, at Portimao. In the future, there could only be one more race on the Iberian Peninsula in addition to Barcelona.
“Until 2026, everything is clear,” says Ezpeleta. ‘All these tracks have contracts. A reduction would not be possible until 2027 at the earliest. We have recognized that it is complicated. Barcelona will not be part of a rotation.’
Thus, the second race besides Barcelona could rotate between the other tracks. ”We now have 28 tracks that want to host MotoGP races. But we can only do 22 races. Of course, it has to be a safe track and well organized.”
Dorna also wants to set a different focus in the future: ‘We have to see if there is any additional value that makes it bigger than a pure sporting event,’ Ezpeleta notes. So the location Barcelona is more important than Alcaniz, for example.
Asked whether Dorna is seeking this change of heart because Liberty Media wants to take over the championship, Ezpeleta replies, “No. We have been saying this for a long time. We can’t just be popular in Europe.”
“When Dorna took over the World Championship, we had three races outside Europe. We have increased that number. Next year we will race in Brazil, a key market.“ In 2025, there will be 14 races in Europe and eight outside.
”We have to make sure that the Grands Prix are a marketing tool for the manufacturers to sell motorcycles. Because that’s what it’s all about,” Ezpeleta states. The USA in particular is seen as a future growth market for MotoGP.
The Dorna boss is not yet able to say which races will be canceled on the Iberian Peninsula as a result: “It’s not about who drops out, but about which races are added. The idea is that two or three races on the peninsula will be canceled.”
