MotoGP is currently working on new rules to help fallen giants Honda and Yamaha.
Specifically, the championship is working on changes to its concession system which would benefit the two Japanese manufacturers.
Presently, they sit in the bottom two of the five-strong constructors’ championship – behind Ducati, KTM, and Aprilia – while the Repsol Honda Team has the added indignity of being at the very bottom of the teams’ championship.
The works Honda squad has scored a meagre 20 points in the first eight rounds of the season, its cause not helped by injuries to both Marc Marquez and Joan Mir, although it is even being well outdone by LCR Honda in eighth position on 84 points.
Now, Dorna Sports Chief Sporting Officer Carlos Ezpeleta has told Catalunya Radio, “We are working on being able to help not only Honda, but also Yamaha, so that they can be competitive again in a faster way.
“Honda and Yamaha were very considerate with the concession rules in the past, and that was vital for Ducati to be competitive and also for Suzuki to be competitive so quickly, and for KTM and Aprilia to officially enter the world championship and be competitive as well.
“Dorna’s official position is that the concessions system should be updated.”
The concession system is a way of providing a leg-up to new/struggling manufacturers, and is based on the accrual of ‘concession points’, which are issued on a 3-2-1 basis for podium finishes.
Once a manufacturer accumulates six such points, concessions are lost, some immediately and some at season’s end.
However, concessions are more difficult to gain, with Article 2.4.2 of the MotoGP regulations stating, “When a manufacturer has accrued no concession points during any one season, all riders using this manufacturer’s machines will benefit from the full concessions from the following season.”
The effect is that any podium this year renders Honda or Yamaha ineligible for concessions next year and, indeed, LCR’s Alex Rins won the Grand Prix of the Americas in April, with Monster Energy Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo finishing two positions back that afternoon in Texas.
No manufacturers presently enjoy concessions, by virtue of Aprilia’s 2022 results.
The benefits of concessions are two extra engines per rider per season, engine homologation freedoms, testing privileges, and extra wildcard entries for the manufacturer.
Meanwhile, Repsol Honda Team Manager Alberto Puig had admitted that Marc Marquez is “Obviously not happy” with the woeful performance of the RC213V and his frequent bruising crashes, while fellow Honda world champion Mick Doohan says the Spaniard has to leave the Japanese marque.
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