Several MotoGP riders have expressed their disapproval against capping the number of Spanish and Italian riders on the grid in the coming years.
In a recent interview, Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta suggested that there should be a limit on the number of entries from Spain and Italy to enable a more diverse field of riders. While the MotoGP chief has always insisted that the premier class should be the home for the ‘best riders’ and maintains the stance to this date, there are now some nuances in his thinking as commercial factors come into play.
"The best should be there, but it is easier to be better if you are Italian or Spanish. It should be like the Olympic Games, three Americans go, and if you are the fourth American, you don't go, even if you are better than those from other countries," Ezpeleta was quoted in a recent interview.
Autosport put Ezpeleta’s quotes to the current crop of Spanish and Italian riders and gathered their opinion on the situation.
“How many British or Anglo-Saxons are there in F1?’ asked Raul Fernandez, who recently secured a new two-year deal with Trackhouse.
“I don't think it's a question of nationality, surely we Italians and Spaniards are better because of how difficult it is for us to get here. Surely, if we were of another nationality, we would have more help in terms of junior championships.
“In Spain, it is very difficult, personally, what I have experienced is a lot of work and struggle to get to MotoGP, without forgetting the sacrifices of the family.
“Apart from that there is the issue of what the factories want. If you go to, for example, Honda and tell them that they have to take three riders of this or that nationality, they will tell you that they don't put 50 million into a project so you can tell them which riders they have to put in.
“What you have to see is that the riders sacrifice a lot and what you have to look at are the results. It's a pity that a rider like [Moto2 points leader] Sergio Garcia, with what he has fought for and is doing, doesn't have a place in MotoGP, so why do you have to work so hard? It's frustrating, if you can't make it, what are you going to try for?”
Honda’s Luca Marini also believes that Spain and Italy offer better opportunities for budding riders to build on their potential, which is why they are so well represented on the grid.
“You have to understand why the level of the Spanish and Italian riders is so high and they are in MotoGP because they are the best in the world, not because they are Italian or Spanish,” said Marini, the half-brother of MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi.
“If we had the possibility to find riders of other nationalities of the same level, they would come.
“But, in my opinion, both in Spain and in Italy there is a culture, a passion and an organisation from the time they are teenagers, even children, that allows them to grow as riders and reach the top category, while in other countries it seems to be more difficult to develop.
“We'll see how things go, but if that's the case [as Ezpeleta suggested] we'll have to be among the top three Italian drivers, it's no problem at all.”
Yamaha’s Alex Rins believes there will be consequences for up-and-coming riders if MotoGP tries to limit entries based on their nationality.
“Honestly, it's very difficult to manage an issue like this,” he said. “It has always been said that Spain and Italy have very good riders, and that is what has brought us here, in MotoGP but also in Moto2 and Moto3.
“Controlling this, I don't know, I think it will affect young riders coming into the world championship more than those of us who are already here.”
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro offered a pretty clear view about the situation, saying: ‘Obviously it would be nice to have fourteen different nationalities in MotoGP, but this is the elite [category] and the best have to be in the elite [category], wherever they are from.”
"This is not something new, it's been known for years. When I was in Moto2, if I had been of another nationality I would have moved up earlier, but if you're Spanish or Italian there aren't that many spaces," he said. "It's the reality.
“The championship is investing in Asia and other regions by creating promotional cups so that people come from there, but luckily in Spain and Italy they don't need to invest because we already have very good championships from the federations, and many riders come up.
“You can't fight against the nature that the best riders are from certain countries. And if you look at the bottom [categories], it's even worse, because all the riders coming up are Spanish and Italian.
“It would be ideal if the fourteen fastest riders in the world were from fourteen different countries, and you can help with promotion championships so that one day it will be like that, but you can't fight against the nature that, at the moment, the best riders are from where they come from.”
Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez will drop off the MotoGP grid at the end of the year and is expected to spend the 2025 season as a test rider for Yamaha.
Knowing he needs to prove that he is worthy of a second chance in the premier class, the 2022 Moto2 champion said: “It's always been like that for the Spanish and Italians to be in MotoGP, we've had to win in everything we've done.
“We have never had any ease because of our passport, but if we are here it is because there are no riders from other countries better than those of us who are here.
“We are Spanish, and proud to be, but we know that you have to win to be here. I myself am out now and we will have to prove a lot to be able to be here again.”
