Yamaha and Honda to receive concessions - even if teams don’t agree unanimously

Yamaha and Honda could benefit from a change to the concessions rule, even if their rivals do not agree to it.
Yamaha bike, Portimao MotoGP test, 12 March
Yamaha bike, Portimao MotoGP test, 12 March

Dorna had previously floated the idea to tweak a MotoGP rule and allow the struggling J🔯apanese manufacturer more technical privileges to help them become more competi꧅tive.

Ducati, Aprilia and KTM have not been particularly welcoming to🧸 the suggestion.

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But Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna CEO, insists the concessions ⛄can go ahead even with🔯out approval from every team.

"💫Why is it difficult? Because you have to convince people,” he was quot✅ed by . 

“We have a theory which is that technical changes in the middle of a period, which is five years, I want them t🔯o b♚e made unanimously. 

“But if they can't b♚e made unanimously... well, we will have to think by majority. 

“But I prefer to convince people.

"There will be changes. The concessions is something that was done when Ducati, in its day, did not win and Yamaha and Honda were generous in letting theಌ brands that entered have some benefits. 

“And we are going to tr♔y to achieve it again for next year.ꦑ 

“It's not that there are concessions for Yamaha and Honda, it's that the concession system𒁃 is more adapted to what is the reality of the results now. It's abꦛout being competitive. 

“From the moral point✃ of view, those who once gave way to concessions are the ones who are now, theoretically, most in nee🀅d.”

Concessions - a range of technical perks to enable teams to get up to speed quicꦦker - were d🎐ished out to Ducati, Suzuki, KTM and Aprilia in the past.

As the t𒀰eams improved, their concessions weဣre reduced.

In 2016 the rule ꦰchanged when mandatoryও use of the standard ECU was introduced.

The new 2023 weekend format, which includes sprint races and lessens practice, allows less time for struggling teams to develop their♋ bikes.

The current rule only allows concessions for a team which hasn’t earned a pod𝔉ium finish in an entire season - but Yamaha and Honda have both managed this in 2023, hence the suggested tweak of the rule.

Joan Mir, MotoGP, Austrian MotoGP, 18 August
Joan Mir, MotoGP, Austrian MotoGP, 18 August

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Honda’s Marc Marquez are the two high-profile victims of their manufac💝turers’ struggles.

Ezpeleta said: "I see that they are two fantastic riders who do not have the bike they need at ꦰthe moment. 

“We have to knowﷺ that the differences are very minimal. 

“Marc, in trai꧂ning times, is less than a second b🐷ehind the winner. 

“Things are very competitive and if something 🐈goes 🐈wrong, you're gone.

“🔯Normally, Marc solved many of those things, and Quartararo too. 

“You have to see what their team🎃mates do. The teammates of Marc, like Quaꩲrtararo, they don't usually beat them.”

Ezpeleta said about the possibility of expanding the grid: “More teams? Those that exist have an agreement until꧟ 2026. “More motorcycles? We want fewer, that t🐽here be 22 and not 24.”

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