Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1189298
VOLUME 56 ISSUE 48 DECEMBER 3, 2019 P107 shambles. The Sunday traffic jam was so bad that riders ran across open fields in their leathers to get to the track in time for morning warm-up. Leaving the track on Sunday evening was no easier. The telephone network was also totally overwhelmed—no mobiles and no internet, so it was a problem for journalists try- ing to file copy by phone or fax. Jerez itself and most of the local towns were swamped with manic helmetless bikers, all seemingly intent on crash- ing head-on into one another at massively high-speeds. And a crowning glory—a police car whose handbrake failed rolling into the crowd, causing several injuries. Overlooking this scene, a booted and spurred Guardia Civil policeman mount- ed on a large and shiny horse, severe uniform capped by the weird medieval-looking three- cornered leather hat, paid no attention. Why would he, when he looked so splendid silhou- etted spectacularly against the skyline? This article gained me little favor among the growing Iberian contingent, but I like to think it had a small but important effect on the total transformation since. It didn't take long, for exam- ple, for Jerez to become a mod- el among contemporary venues. The crowds got bigger, but new roads (thanks to EEC funding) and a well-planned associated infrastructure coped in exem- plary fashion. Small changes to the circuit layout also speeded up the lap and improved the rac- ing, too. New circuits followed—Mont- melo outside Barcelona and subsequently, Motorland Aragon carried standards forward in all sorts of areas, including safety. (Least said about Valencia the better, though to be fair the pocket-handkerchief venue of- fers spectacular viewing akin to stadium motocross.) Dorna took over GPs some four years after the birth of Jerez, and along with wealthy and well-focused Spanish spon- sors like Repsol and Movistar, started fast-forward programs to develop national riding talent. These have borne fruit ever since, and continue to do so, in what is dubbed a conveyor belt of Spanish talent. The first 500cc-class Spanish winner and the subsequent champion was Alex Criville in 1999, paving the way for Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Marquez and company. Not to mention a raft of winners in the smaller classes. Dorna was itself pretty xeno- phobic at first, financially grasp- ing and seemingly small-minded and destructively self-protective in all sorts of ways. Since then, however, the company has gained self-confidence in so many ways. This shows in matters of promotion, and most notably, TV production. Dorna also weathered the loss of tobacco sponsorship and the financial meltdown of 2008. They also took forceful control of rules that previously favored one or two big-spending factory teams, to engender more competitive racing and attract more entrants. Hence today's statistics, with six factories in the premier class, eight races with a winning mar- gin of less than a second, and three of those inside a 10th of a second. Along the way, Dorna had become a forward-looking com- pany embracing internationalism. This is not undermined by having four races in Spain but reflected in the expansion of the calendar from 1987's 15 rounds to next year's 20, along with the move into the booming bike mar- ket of South-East Asia. There are more to come, with expectations of expansion to 22 races a year. More importantly, the pro- gram's recruiting and developing youthful talent has gone global, with the Red Bull Rookies Cup joined by Asian and British series, the first two of which already reflected in the winners' circles. Yes, motorcycle GP racing is overwhelmingly Spanish. And at the end of a great season, it's hard not to say that it is over- whelmingly positive. CN